Orthopaedic Surgery

Ortho Fact Sheet 2025
Orthopaedic Surgery fact sheet

The UCSF-Fresno Department of Orthopaedic Surgery welcomes and invites you to learn more about our excellent, five-year residency program in orthopaedic surgery. Established in 2010, our mission is to train the next generation of knowledgeable, technically skilled surgeons, who will provide high quality, comprehensive orthopaedic care. Our fully ACGME-accredited residency provides outstanding surgical training, didactic education, and abundant research opportunities, with a focus on cultivating a supportive, collegial environment among residents and faculty. There is a strong emphasis on obtaining early, hands-on experience in the inpatient, outpatient, and operating room settings. Training is focused primarily at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC), the Central Valley’s only level 1 trauma center, with a catchment area of over 15,000 mi2 serving 4.3 million people, offering a full spectrum of interesting clinical cases.

Graduates of our program have matched into a multitude of orthopaedic subspecialty fellowships, and advanced into successful careers, both in academic and private settings.

 

A Message from the Program Director

Since 2010, we have been building more than a residency program – we have been building a legacy.

What began as a new orthopaedic surgery program has grown into a comprehensive training environment defined by clinical excellence, breadth of experience, and an unwavering commitment to developing exceptional surgeons. Over the years, our program has evolved, our faculty has grown, and our opportunities have expanded – but our fundamental mission has never changed: to train outstanding orthopaedic surgeons who are prepared to lead, innovate, and serve their patients at the highest level.

Our home at UCSF Fresno/CRMC is a tremendous part of that mission. As a major trauma facility, it provides our residents with the opportunity to care for some of the most complex and challenging orthopaedic injuries. This high-acuity environment create the foundation for surgical growth, clinical judgment, and confidence that cannot be replicated in a textbook or classroom. At the same time, our program offers exposure to a broad range of orthopaedic subspecialties, including foot and ankle, spine, adult reconstruction, pediatrics, hand and upper extremity, orthopaedic oncology, sports, and trauma. Our goal is not simply to train residents who can perform procedures, but to develop thoughtful, technically excellent, compassionate, and confident surgeons who are prepared to care for patients across the full spectrum of orthopaedic disease and injury.

But a great residency is about more than case numbers, subspecialty exposure, or technical skills. It is about transformation. It is about taking a resident and developing the knowledge, judgement, technical ability, resilience, and character to become a surgeon others can trust when the stakes are highest. It is about learning not only how to operate, but when to operate, when not to operate, and how to make the right decision for every patient.

That is the standard we hold for ourselves and for every resident who joins our program. As we look beyond our first decade and toward the future, we are proud of how far this program has come – but we are not satisfied with simply maintaining what we have built. We are committed to continuing to grow, to challenge ourselves, to embrace innovation, and to raise the standard of orthopaedic education.

It is a privilege to be part of this program, and I am proud of the many residents and graduates who have contributed to its growth. Our history is something we celebrate, but our greatest accomplishment will always be the surgeons we train and the patients they go on to serve.

-- Samia Ghaffar, MD

Program Highlights

 

  • Training is based at the highest volume Level I Trauma Center in the State of California.
  • Our catchment area population of 4.3 million provides residents with a truly robust and diverse clinical experience.
  • Balance: Every orthopaedic sub-specialty is represented by fellowship-trained faculty.
  • With a faculty to resident ratio greater than 2:1, residents experience a high level of direct, 1:1 interaction with attendings, particularly in the operating room.
  • A program philosophy that promotes a graduated increase of autonomy, with the goal of producing independent surgeons confident in their technical abilities.
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