Shoulder Service


Contact Information
phone: 617-724-7300
fax: 617-724-3846
Our shoulder surgeons see patients in these locations:
Mass General - Boston
55 Fruit Street
Yawkey Center, Suite 3G
Boston, MA 02114
Mass General - Cambridge Street
175 Cambridge Street
4th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
BWH/Mass General Health Care Center
20 Patriot Place
Foxborough, MA 02035
Orthopaedics at Mass General Waltham
52 Second Avenue
Building 52, 1st Floor, Suite 1150
Waltham, MA 02451
North Shore Center for Outpatient Care
104 Endicott Street
LL00, Lower Level
Danvers, MA 01923
Shoulder Service
Treating the Whole Person, Not Just the Shoulder
Our focus is on helping each person overcome a condition that has altered his or her quality of life. Our approach to managing patient care includes:
- Thoroughly evaluating each patient and his or her symptoms
- Determining the patient's normal shoulder function
- Diagnosing the patient's condition
- Discussing the expected outcome
- Developing a comprehensive care plan tailored to the patient's needs
- Carefully considering the impact of the shoulder problem and its treatment on the patient’s overall health and expectations for recovery
Making an appointment is easy. Patients seeking initial consultations usually see one of our specialists within two weeks. If your condition is acute, you may be admitted to the hospital and scheduled to begin therapy or have surgery the following day.
Follow-up visits are scheduled to manage the patient's recovery. We also enter treatment information into our patient database, which allows us to analyze outcomes and gives patients and referring physicians complete and up-to-date information about their care. Our goal is to help all of our patients resume healthy and productive lives.
A Recognized Leader in Research & Academic Medicine
Our world-class shoulder specialists also are leaders in clinical and basic science research. By relentlessly pursuing innovation, we can offer novel techniques and advanced therapies that improve patient care.
Our surgeons have developed three-dimensional imaging that compares the anatomy and function of repaired shoulders with normally functioning shoulders. This advancement has led to new treatments that more closely replicate normally functioning shoulders, often providing patients with better long-term results.
The Shoulder Service's research focuses on improving conventional techniques for shoulder replacements, rotator cuff repairs, shoulder dislocations and other disorders. One of the most promising breakthroughs our research team has helped to develop is a reverse prosthesis. This novel device is used to treat patients lacking intact rotator cuffs or with bones and tendons damaged during previous surgeries, conditions that once were considered difficult to treat.
Our international reputation as a leading academic medical center also benefits our patients. Working closely with our physicians, our talented postgraduate fellows are highly qualified, board-certified surgeons who evaluate and diagnose patients and assist our shoulder specialists during surgery.
Meet our Team
Meet our team of shoulder surgeons.
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- Chief, Shoulder Service; Interim Chief, Sports Medicine Service
- Director, Shoulder & Elbow Fellowship Program
- Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Chief, Hand & Arm Center
- Program Director, Hand Surgery Fellowship Program
- Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Orthopaedic Shoulder, Elbow and Hand Surgeon
- Co-Chief, Shoulder Service
- Program Director, Shoulder Surgery Fellowship
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- Shoulder Surgeon & Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon
- Instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Orthopaedic Shoulder Surgeon
- Lecturer, Harvard Medical School
- Chair of Orthopedics, North Shore Medical Center
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- Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon
- Assistant Team Physician: New England Patriots; Harvard College
- Instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon
- Team Orthopaedist: Boston Red Sox & New England Revolution; Medical Director: Futures Collegiate Baseball League; Consultant: Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, Harvard University
- Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Orthopaedic Shoulder Surgeon
- Clinical Instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
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- Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon
- Head Team Physician and Medical Director: New England Patriots; Team Physician: Boston Red Sox
- Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Advanced Practitioners
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- Physician Assistant with Dr. Todd O'Brien
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- Physician Assistant with Dr. Thomas Holovacs
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- Physician Assistant with Dr. JP Warner
Muscle transfer technique brings pain relief to patients
“Don’t lose hope, because we may have a solution,” says Bassem Elhassan, MD, co-chief of the Shoulder Service. Dr. Elhassaon spoke with WCVB about his innovative approach to restoring function and range-of-motion in a patient long-suffering from chronic shoulder pain.

Patient Resources
Videos: Animations
See video animations for common shoulder conditions and treatments.
Videos: Shoulder Rehabilitation
Shoulder rehabilitation videos demonstrated by our sports medicine physical therapists.
General Surgery Guide
Surgical info, including our locations, preparing your home before surgery, and more.
Videos: Advances in Motion
Jon Warner, MD, chief of Shoulder Service and co-director of the Harvard Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship, discusses his research on the value of care delivery how new virtual planning tools eliminate the need for trial and error in the OR.
Thomas Holovacs, MD, shoulder orthopaedic surgeon at Mass General, describes how biologics, surgically implanting living tissues into patients to harness the patient’s natural healing potential, is becoming recognized as an intuitive and elegant approach to orthopaedic surgery.
Contact the Shoulder Service
Find a shoulder specialist.