Dr. Elizabeth Polfer graduated with distinction from the US Naval Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Physics.  She then received her Doctor of Medicine from the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD. After medical school, she completed her residency in Orthopaedic Surgery with the National Capital Consortium (NCC) at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, MD.  During residency, she received the Robert A. Phillip Laboratory Research Award (2013) and the Bailey K Ashford Laboratory Research Award (2015). Following residency, she went on to complete the NCC Hand Fellowship, which is a collaboration between Water Reed and the Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore, MD.  After graduation from fellowship, she was stationed in El Paso, TX and was appointed the Associate Program Director for the combined William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC) / Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program. She left El Paso for one year to complete a second fellowship, musculoskeletal oncology, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  When she returned to El Paso, she was appointed the Program Director for the combined WBAMC/ TTUHSC Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program.  Currently serves as the Hand Fellowship Director for the NCC Hand Fellowship and as an Associate Professor for the Department of Surgery at USU.  She has deployed with the 772^nd FST to Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and deployed as the Chief of Surgery with the 531^st Hospital Center to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield. She is board certified in Orthopaedic Surgery with a Certificate of Additional Qualification in Hand Surgery. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a member of the Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons and American Society for Surgery of the Hand.