Maya Spaeth, MD, joined Nationwide Children’s Hospital in September as co-director of the Hand, Microsurgery and Brachial Plexus Program within the section of Plastic Surgery. She comes to Nationwide Children’s from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California where she served as an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery.
The addition of Dr. Spaeth brings several entirely new services to Nationwide Children’s Hospital including Brachial Plexus. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves originating from the spinal cord that controls muscle function and sensation of the shoulder, arm and hand. Injury to this network during birth or subsequent trauma can leave the arm without function.
“There are very few programs that provide a truly collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to obstetric brachial plexus injuries,” said Dr. Spaeth. “We have a team including Physical and Occupational Therapists, Nursing, Plastic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pathology that can provide comprehensive care individualized to each patient and their family.”
Congenital hand and brachial plexus will use a multidisciplinary team approach lead by Plastic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery. Hand and microsurgery will specialize in services such as congenital hand differences, hand and wrist injuries, brachial plexus, facial reanimation and microsurgical reconstruction.
Dr. Spaeth has been published in leading professional publications, and is actively involved in research on congenital hand, brachial plexus and resident education. She has also received numerous honors and awards during her undergraduate, medical school and residency training. A few of the awards include the Canada Science Scholarship and National Science and Research Council Awards during undergraduate training, the Dr. Peter Cruse Award for best medical student surgical research and surgery research award during residency.
Dr. Spaeth received her Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia and attended Medical School at the University of Calgary. She completed residency training in Family Medicine at Dalhousie and a second residency in Plastic Surgery at The Ohio State
University Medical Center. She finished a Hand and Microsurgery fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and recently completed two Observerships in Toronto and Boston for Brachial Plexus and Facial Reanimation. In addition to serving as an assistant professor at Loma Linda University, Dr. Spaeth was also actively involved in resident education.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Plastic Surgery provides comprehensive care for all plastic surgical problems in children, including congenital anomalies (such as cleft lip/palate, craniofacial anomalies, hand abnormalities, facial paralysis, and hemangiomas/vascular malformations), acute traumatic injuries (such as facial trauma, brachial plexus injuries, and hand and wrist injuries), skin tumors (such as moles and cysts) and reconstruction following burns and other traumatic injuries (including replantation and microsurgical reconstruction).
NOTE TO EDITOR: Dr. Spaeth is a resident of (Clintonville, 43202).