SAN FRANCISCO (March 17, 2023) -- The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is pleased to announce that Dr. Coleen Sabatini has been named a recipient of the UCSF Health Exceptional Physician Awards for the 2022-23 academic year.
Selected by a committee of UCSF Health leaders, Dr. Sabatini is being recognized for her extraordinary contributions to the care of our patients, her teamwork and her professionalism in our health system.
The Department congratulates Dr. Sabatini, and we are extremely proud of her exceptional work.
About Coleen S. Sabatini, MD, MPH
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Vice Chair of Health Equity and Academic Affairs
Dr. Coleen Sabatini is a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, and she is the director of the clubfoot program and medical director of the Dance Medicine program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. She focuses on pediatric trauma, fractures, and foot/limb deformities, and co-directs the UCSF Center for Health Equity in surgery and anesthesia, advocating for underrepresented minorities in orthopedic surgery and improving surgical care in low resource settings. She is dedicated to training residents, is committed to her patients, and fundraises for those in need.
Dr. Sabatini received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego where she studied biology and dance. She then moved to Boston to obtain her Doctorate of Medicine (MD) and Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, respectively. She served as an Intern in General Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and then completed her residency training in Orthopaedic Surgery at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program. She served as Chief Resident in her last year of residency and as Editor of "The Orthopaedic Journal" at Harvard Medical School for four years. Dr. Sabatini completed her fellowship training in Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Having been a dancer for most of her pre-medical life, Dr. Sabatini's passion for caring for children with orthopaedic problems is based in her own history of orthopaedic injuries and a commitment to helping others live an active and healthy life.
After joining the UCSF faculty in 2010, Dr. Sabatini became the Director and Chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland in 2012. She served in these roles for over 7 years until 2019 when she transitioned away from leadership at BCHO to focus on her primary passion - global health, particularly in Uganda, and now serves as the Director of Global Surgery for the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery. She has taught and worked in numerous countries including Uganda, Nepal, Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Sabatini provides care at BCHO’s main hospital in Oakland as well as the Ambulatory Center in Walnut Creek. Her clinical focus includes a wide range of pediatric orthopaedic care including pediatric trauma/fractures, clubfoot and other pediatric foot and limb deformities, limb length discrepancies, scoliosis, and dance medicine.
Dr. Sabatini's research focuses on global health, pediatric trauma prevention and treatment, clinical outcomes, health disparities, and improving access to care for children with musculoskeletal conditions, particularly for children in low-resource environments. Dr. Sabatini’s international work is focused on education and capacity-building in low-resource settings. She heads a pediatric orthopaedic research program in Uganda and serves at the Principle Investigator on multiple projects including the Uganda Post-injection Disability Prevention and Treatment Program.
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