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New Therapy Fellows Bring Strong Backgrounds to the Hand Center

Since its introduction in the Fall of ‘98, Hand Rehabilitation Foundation’s Evelyn Mackin Hand Therapy Fellowship program has been recognized by both the local and national medical communities as an extremely thorough and imaginative fellowship program. The reviews have been so good that in July of this year the Hand Center named June Villeco and Erica Day as the recipients of the program’s third and fourth fellows, marking the first time in the program’s short history that two fellowships were awarded together.

June Villeco came to the Hand Center with over 20 years of professional experience in occupational therapy. After receiving her degree in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania and her Masters in Business Administration from Temple University, this Blue Bell, Montgomery County native embarked on an extremely successful career that has seen her perform work in rehabilitation hospitals, homecare and programs of subacute and longterm care of patients.

In addition to her current work at the Hand Center, Villeco is also the president of Enterprising Therapists, Inc., an occupational therapy consulting and temporary staffing company that she began in June, 1998. The company provides short-term occupational therapy coverage for acute care and rehabilitation, inpatient, outpatient and hand therapy caseloads.

Villeco, who characterizes herself as having “a long-standing interest in hands,” heard of the fellowship program from within the Philadelphia medical community. Since coming to the Hand Center, she has developed an interest in working with tendons, clinical research and all problems involving the wrist, though she most enjoys working closely with her patients on a wide variety of diagnoses.

Erica Day’s route to the Hand Center was a bit longer traveled. A native of Gainesville, Georgia, Day worked as a therapist for three and a half years after graduating from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in occupational therapy in May, 1995. Day credits the Hand Center’s annual meeting with cultivating her interest in pursuing hand therapy as a career. She attended the meeting in May, 1998 while working as a therapist in Toccoa, Georgia where she was integrating occupational therapy in an outpatient rehabilitation clinic and acute care hospital. During her fellowship, Day has demonstrated a strong interest in tendon injuries and has been especially excited by the opportunity to do a case study in this area with one of Dr. John Taras’ tendon patients. After completing her fellowship this December, Day will be travelling to Nashville, Tennessee where she plans to continue to explore the area of upper extremity rehabilitation.

The Hand Center’s comprehensive fellowship program combines both clinical and academic training to gain specialization and skills in the areas of hand therapy. Fellowship recipients receive the opportunity to observe surgery once a month, assist in teaching a splinting class at Thomas Jefferson University and are responsible for a full caseload that includes a weekly case review with a member of the staff.
The Evelyn J. Mackin Hand Therapy Fellowship is sponsored by the Hand Rehabilitation Foundation and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The full-time, six month fellowship is offered in hand management and patient care including pre- and post-operative assessment, treatment planning, splinting, return-to-work programs and outcomes.