About Dr. Irwin
From Harvard to Orlando — trained at the nation's leading institutions.
Timothy J. Irwin, MD · Orlando, Florida
Dr. Timothy J. Irwin is a pediatric hand and upper extremity surgeon at Rothman Orthopaedics Florida and serves as Chief & Medical Director of Pediatric Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery at AdventHealth for Children in Orlando. He is the only dual fellowship-trained pediatric hand and upper extremity surgeon in Florida.
After earning his medical degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Dr. Irwin completed his residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Harvard Medical School in the combined Mass General / Brigham and Women's / Boston Children's Hospital program, where he served as Chief Resident and earned the program’s Resident Teacher of the Year Award — training across three of the nation's most storied hospitals. He then pursued two consecutive fellowships: hand and upper extremity surgery at the world-renowned Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center at Thomas Jefferson University, followed by dedicated pediatric hand and upper extremity surgery at Shriners Children's Philadelphia — one of the foremost centers in the world for congenital hand differences, brachial plexus injury, and pediatric upper limb reconstruction.
Before relocating to Florida, Dr. Irwin served as an assistant professor of pediatric plastic surgery at Children's Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado. His training across both plastic surgery and orthopaedic hand surgery gives him an unusually complete toolkit — bone, joint, tendon, nerve, vessel, and soft tissue — for solving the most complex problems of the growing hand and arm.
Beyond clinical care, Dr. Irwin is actively engaged in surgical innovation — developing new surgical techniques, devices, and materials that advance the field of pediatric hand and nerve surgery.
Beyond the Operating Room
Research, teaching, and service
Global surgical outreach
Dr. Irwin volunteers on surgical missions providing hand and brachial plexus care to children who would otherwise have none. He travels to Zambia with Surgicorps International, operating at Beit CURE International Hospital on birth-related and traumatic brachial plexus injuries — the same conditions that anchor his practice in Orlando. The aim is not a single trip: he is building a longitudinal brachial plexus program alongside CURE’s staff orthopaedic surgeons and therapists, and teaching Zambian surgical residents so that this care ultimately belongs to them.
Children with special needs
A lifelong volunteer with organizations serving children and individuals with special needs — including Special Olympics — Dr. Irwin's passion for patients with cerebral palsy and complex conditions runs far deeper than the operating room.
Researcher, innovator & educator
Dr. Irwin's published research focuses on clinical outcomes of peripheral nerve repair and regeneration in children and adults, as well as complex reconstruction. He lectures and teaches nationally, and is actively involved in developing new surgical techniques, devices, and materials.
Selected peer-reviewed publications
Total Wrist Arthroplasty: An International Perspective. PubMed. Instructional Course Lectures, 2024.
A Systematic Review of the Complications Associated with Free Fibular Flaps in Adult and Pediatric Spinal Reconstruction. Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery, 2024.
The Use of Nerve Caps after Nerve Transection in Headache Surgery: Cadaver and Case Reports.
Credentials & areas of expertise
Timothy J. Irwin, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon and a Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, practicing pediatric and adult hand and upper extremity surgery in Orlando, Florida. He completed medical school at Penn State College of Medicine and plastic surgery residency in the Harvard Medical School combined program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident and received the program’s Resident Teacher of the Year Award in 2022. He then completed two consecutive fellowships: hand and upper extremity surgery at the Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center at Thomas Jefferson University, and pediatric hand and upper extremity surgery at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia. He previously served as Assistant Professor of Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado.
He practices at Rothman Orthopaedics Florida and serves as Chief and Medical Director of Pediatric Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at AdventHealth for Children. He is a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.
Clinical expertise: brachial plexus birth injury and brachial plexus reconstruction; nerve grafting, nerve transfer, and selective neurectomy; upper extremity surgery in cerebral palsy and spasticity, including spasticity following stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury; congenital hand differences including syndactyly, polydactyly, thumb duplication, thumb hypoplasia, radial longitudinal deficiency, pollicization, trigger thumb, camptodactyly, clinodactyly, arthrogryposis, and amniotic band syndrome; pediatric hand and forearm fractures and growth plate injuries; tendon transfer surgery; reconstructive microsurgery, replantation, and free tissue transfer; and adult hand and wrist conditions including thumb carpometacarpal arthritis, carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren contracture, distal radius fracture, and wrist arthroscopy.