Richard Coughlin, MD

Dr. Richard Coughlin has been a champion for overseas volunteerism and involvement since 1988 with the establishment of the orthopedic division of Operation Rainbow, a non-profit that offers free orthopedic surgery to children, with his private practice partner Dr. Taylor Smith.  After joining the faculty at UCSF, he continued to inspire his residents through  Operation Rainbow service trips to Central America.  With his exposure to Orthopaedics Overseas (OO), he became Chairman of OO promoting the teaching and training model.  He founded the first formal overseas rotation for orthopaedic surgery residents in the Transkei of South Africa in 1999. As a Clinical Professor of Orthopaedics in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF , Dr Coughlin was based at San Francisco General Hospital, the county hospital for trauma and indigent care for the city and county of San Francisco. Dr. Coughlin completed his master’s degree in ‘Public Health in Developing Countries’ at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2004. Dr. Coughlin was awarded the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006, which is given to one surgeon world-wide annually, for the care of disadvantaged populations both at home and abroad.

Dr. Coughlin founded IGOT in 2006 along with Drs Harry Jergesen and Richard Gosselin and remained its Director until 2024. Dr. Coughlin is currently Professor Emeritus at UCSF and Director Emeritus of IGOT.

External Leadership Roles:
Orthopaedic Trauma Association; Humanitarian Committee Chairman Emeritus
World Health Organization; Consult