Orthopaedic Surgery
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery 2019-2020 group
The UCSF Fresno Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program received initial accreditation in June of 2009. Our inaugural class began their training in June 2010. This is an exciting time for us, as this new residency program brings another dimension to the multitude of already well-established surgical and non-surgical training programs here at UCSF Fresno.
The UCSF School of Medicine Fresno branch campus is housed in a state-of-the-art center located in downtown Fresno. When it opened in 2005, the three-story, 82,000 square-foot UCSF Fresno facility consolidated the residency programs and administrative staff together under one roof for the first time since UCSF Fresno was established in 1975.
UCSF Fresno is located on the Community Regional Medical Center campus, which also includes a 921 bed Level 1 Trauma Center, medical office buildings, outpatient clinics, and a new workout facility. The CRMC emergency department had over 110,000 patient visits in 2019, making it one of the busiest in the state. Its sister facility, 208 bed Clovis Community Medical Center, had over 66,000 ED patient visits.
Our goal is to provide outstanding clinical and didactic education, as well as research opportunities, to our residents. Our faculty members are subspecialty trained and board certified in all areas of orthopaedics including pediatric orthopaedics, spine, shoulder and elbow, adult reconstruction, trauma, sports, foot and ankle, hip preservation, orthopaedic oncology, and hand/microvascular surgery.
Residents spend time at Community Regional Medical Center, the only Level 1 Trauma/Burn Center between Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as several other hospitals, clinics, and surgery centers in Fresno. Three months are spent on the UCSF San Francisco campus learning about orthopaedic oncology. Residents obtain early hands-on experience in an inpatient and outpatient setting, as well as in the operating room, providing care to patients ranging from pediatric to geriatric for congenital, acquired, and traumatic conditions. This is partly due to a favorable one-to-one resident-to-attending ratio in the operating room, and is further aided by the fact that there are no fellows in our program.
Our unique geographic location and extremely large catchment area in the heart of California’s heavily populated Central Valley allow for a truly astonishing volume and variety of clinical cases and pathologies. Additionally, this permits ample clinical research opportunities. Collaboration with Fresno State University and UC Merced provides access to science departments, staff, laboratories, and a vivarium. This enables basic science projects, desktop research, and animal studies. A dedicated support staff is on hand within the Department of Orthopaedics to help facilitate these research projects.
Our philosophy is to train well-skilled orthopaedic surgeons who may advance into all areas of orthopaedic subspecialties in both academic and private practice settings. As a young program, we look forward to continued growth and success for our graduating residents.