About Derek Ward, MD

Dr. Derek Ward is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in adult reconstruction of the knee joint.  He sees patients with all types of degenerative disease of the knee including osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis), post-traumatic arthritis, and avascular necrosis. He is an expert in knee replacement in addition to specializing in revision surgery treating patients with complications from previous joint replacements.

Dr. Ward takes a comprehensive approach to the diagnosis and management of knee pain, incorporating the latest advancements in perioperative pain management, surgical reconstruction, and recovery including robotic surgery, partial knee replacement, and complex revision surgery.

Dr. Ward completed his undergraduate training at Williams College and then spent several years working in Washington D.C. in health care policy and in Africa working in global health. He completed his medical training at UCSF in 2010 where he spent an extra year studying health care policy. Dr. Ward remained at UCSF, completing his Orthopaedic Surgery Residency in 2015 followed by a fellowship in adult reconstruction at the prestigious Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. He joined the UCSF faculty in 2016.

He has won multiple awards for patient care, teaching, and research including the James A. Rand Award from the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and the John Charnley Award from the Hip Society as well as the Maxine Papadakis Award for Professionalism and Respect and the James Morris Award for Physician Compassion.  

Dr. Ward is also Affiliate Faculty at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. His research interests include health care policy and cost effectiveness, peri-operative risk assessment and optimization, medical education, and revision hip and knee replacement. He is a fellow of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Orthopaedic Association and reviews research for several major journals.

Dr. Ward serves in multiple leadership roles at UCSF including as the Executive Medical Director for the UCSF-MarinHealth Orthopaedic Department at MarinHealth Medical Center and as the orthopaedic medical director for the UCSF Hip Fracture Initiative. He is dedicated to educating the next generation of physicians and is actively involved in all levels of medical education.

In addition, he is co-director of an annual continuing medication education course: UCSF Arthroplasty for the Modern Surgeon: Hip, Knee and Health Innovation Technology.

Dr. Ward sees patients at the Orthopaedic Institute in San Francisco and at the UCSF-MarinHealth Orthopaedic Clinic in San Rafael. He performs surgeries at UCSF and at MarinHealth Medical Center.