BIG HAND EVENT
Great care lies in our hands
Friday October 2, 2026
LantarenVenster, Rotterdam
The Big Hand Event 2026 (BHE26) is a high-level multidisciplinary congress dedicated to the improvement of hand and wrist care through the promotion of collaboration and the sharing of medical knowledge and clinical expertise.
A full day dedicated to
- Multidisciplinary clinical case discussions
- Practical treatment strategies
- Surgical and non-surgical innovations
- The latest scientific insights
- Research and future perspectives
From the operating theatre to the treatment room
We firmly believe that the highest quality of hand and wrist care can only be achieved when hand surgeons, rehabilitation physicians, hand therapists and plaster cast technicians can seamlessly work together. This level of multidisciplinarity can only be achieved when these disciplines start understanding each other’s perspectives, strengths and weaknesses and use this information as a basis for a free-flowing interdisciplinary discussion with the single goal to create optimal treatment outcomes for their patients.
This congress is conceived specifically with the latter in mind.
Accreditation has been requested
Topics
Speakers
Henk Coert PhD
Professor of Plastic Surgery
Utrecht (NL)
Anandi van Loon
Rehabilitation Specialist Hand & Pols Revalidatie Nederland
Den Haag (NL)
Nicola Goldsmith
Hand Therapist
London (UK)
Esther van Fenema
Psychiatrist, professional violinist and writer. Founder of the Performerspoli.
Driebergen-Rijsenburg (NL)
Xander Smit PhD
Plastic Handsurgeon
Rotterdam (NL)
Kirsten Jassies
Social Media & AI Expert
Utrecht (NL)
Lt Col Tamara Hoogezand-Walraven
Military Surgeon/logistics expert
Harderwijk (NL)
Oskar Aszmann PhD
Professor of Plastic Surgery
Vienna (AT)
Maaike Lange
Consultant in rehabilitation medicine at the Upper Extremity Unit in De Hoogstraat rehabilitation centre/Diakonessenhuis.
Utrecht (NL)
Watch our previous editions
Aftermovie
Watch clips from previous BHE editions
Program
Opening Session
09:30 – 09:40
Opening Remarks
Henk Coert
Music Medicine
09:40 – 09:50
Music Medicine, an introduction
Anandi van Loon-Felter
09:50 – 10:30
Hand Therapy in Musicians
Nicola Goldsmith
10:30 – 11:10
Music and the Brain
Esther van Fenema
11:10 – 11:15
Questions from the audience
11:15 – 11:45
Coffee and Tea Break
Education and professional connection through social media
11:45 – 12:45
A Surgeon and a Social Media expert: how to create medical impact through Social Media
Kirsten Jassies and Xander Smit
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch
Trauma under fire
13:45 – 14:15
Upper Extremity Battlefield Injuries
Lt-Col Tamara Hoogezand-Walraven (pending)
14:15 – 14:45
My experiences delivering hand therapy knowledge and skills to Ukraine
Nicola Goldsmith
14:45 – 14:50
Questions from the audience
14:50 – 15:20
Coffee and Tea Break
The Rise of the Bionic Human
15:20 – 15:50
Surgery and prehabilitation for bionic arm-hand prostheses
Oskar Aszmann
15:50 – 16:20
Rehabilitation after Arm and Hand Amputation
Maaike Lange
16:20 – 16:50
Quo Vadis? The future of Bionic Integration
Oskar Aszmann
16:50 – 16:55
Questions from the audience
Closing
16:55 – 17:05
Closing Remarks
Henk Coert
17:05 – 18:00
Drinks and Talks
We thank the following corporate partners for their participation and support
Practical information
Tickets
Early Bird Tickets (limited to 40 tickets)
for hand therapists, plaster cast technicians, physician assistants and residents
€165,00
for physicians
€215,00
Regular Tickets
for hand therapists, plaster cast technicians, physician assistants and residents
€190,00
for physicians
€ 250,00
Accreditation has been requested
Included
Getting there
LantarenVenster is located on the Wilhelminapier in Rotterdam Zuid.
Coming from the Rotterdam Central Station, LantarenVenster can be reached by public transport via Metro lines D (light blue) with terminal station “de Akkers” or E (dark blue) with terminal station “Slinge”. For LantarenVenster, exit the metro at station Wilhelminaplein, take the escalator to the upper level, pass the subway fare gates and go left to enter the tunnel with the horizontal moving walkway. At the end of the walkway take the stairs or the escalator to the street level.
Car-parking is available nearby but expensive. There are bicycle racks near the LantarenVenster entrance.
Location
LantarenVenster
Otto Reuchlinweg 996
(Wilhelminapier)
3072 MD Rotterdam