A native of the Houston area, the founder of The Hand Center graduated from Southwest Texas State University with highest honors, with a 3.97 grade point average. He majored in biology and chemistry with a minor in physics. He returned to Houston to attend Baylor College of Medicine and graduating three years later with a Doctor of Medicine degree.
He was personally asked by Dr. DeBakey to stay at Baylor affiliated hospitals in The Texas Medical Center in preparation for the cardiovascular heart surgery program. After three years in the Baylor surgery program, he informed his mentors that instead of heart surgery, hand surgery was to be his calling. He considered the hand “more challenging” and allowed for greater advance in a critical field. Brown completed his hand fellowship training at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston and his microsurgical training under the auspices of the Baylor Plastic Surgery department.
He then moved to California and completed the final two years of the rigorous five-year general surgery training. He also served as Chief of Hand Surgical Service while at San Joaquin General Hospital.
Brown founded The Hand Center in Houston, TX, in 1988. He was Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery and obtained the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hand Surgery.
Dr. Brown has gone on to invent many new techniques, including the Brown Procedure, an endoscopic (“from the inside”) carpal tunnel procedure for which he holds two U.S. patents; the endoscopic trigger finger procedure; and other pioneering reconstructive techniques. Dr. Brown’s procedures have revolutionized care for some hand problems, drastically reducing recovery time with minimally invasive procedures.
Dr. Brown has trained hundreds of other surgeons from across the U.S. and from foreign countries who seek out his skills, particularly in the endoscopic carpal tunnel procedure. His patients number in the tens of thousands. He co-directed the Pan-American Hand and Foot Project in Honduras which won him accolades from President George H. W. Bush. He has published his work in surgical journals and the textbook of Endoscopic Plastic Surgery.
- For a complete biography of Michael G. Brown, M.D., click here
