(Vienna, 04 November, 2026) Clemens Gstöttner of the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at MedUni Vienna was among a small group of international fellows selected for this year’s International Traveling Fellowship Program (ITFP) of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). In September and October, the surgeon took advantage of intensive learning and professional exchange opportunities at four renowned hand surgery centers in the USA.
The ITFP is one of the most prestigious exchange programs in international hand surgery and is awarded annually to a small number of young surgeons from around the world. Clemens Gstöttner, who works in Oskar Aszmann’s research group at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at MedUni Vienna at the intersection of reconstructive microsurgery, peripheral nerve surgery, and neuroprosthetics, was nominated for the fellowship by the Austrian Society for Hand Surgery and completed it alongside a colleague from Mexico.
The trip took him, among other places, to the Hand and Upper Extremity Center of San Antonio (David Green), the University of Pennsylvania (Scott Levin), Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia (Dan Zlotolow), and Duke University (Warren Hammert). The highlight of the program was his participation in the 81st Annual Congress of the ASSH in Boston.
"Particularly exciting were the innovative surgical techniques for treating congenital hand malformations at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, as well as the new techniques in nerve reconstruction and spastic hand surgery, which were a major topic at the conference," said Gstöttner.
The insights gained during the fellowship into various care models for peripheral nerve injuries and complex reconstructions of the upper extremity will be incorporated into further clinical and scientific work at MedUni Vienna.