Burlingame Surgeon Given High Israeli Honor

Contributed by Lisa Serbaniewicz:

Burlingame orthopedic surgeon Nikolaj Wolfson has been elected to the board of directors of American Friends of Tel Aviv University, a donor group that supports Israel’s largest academic institution, Tel Aviv University.

Born in "the country that does not exist anymore," (USSR) as a teenager Wolfson immigrated to Israel on his own. He graduated from Sackler Medical School at Tel Aviv University, and after an internship in Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, served as a Medical Officer in the IDF elite forces where he reached rank of Captain and served as a Chief Medical Officer in the Israeli Submarine Flotilla.

Dr. Wolfson completed his orthopedic residency and fellowship in Canada. Prior to entering private practice he was a full-time faculty member at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and was a Visiting fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. 

He is a board certified orthopedic surgeon in three countries — United States, Canada and Israel. Dr. Wolfson is experienced in the field of military and mass casualty trauma. He volunteered his orthopedic surgery expertise in Haiti after the earthquake, serving at the field hospital and on the board of US Navy Ship-Hospital “Comfort.”

He is leading a Disaster Orthopedic initiative at the largest-in-the-world international Orthopedic organization, SICOT, where he is a Board member and on a Trauma Committee. He is also on the Disaster Preparedness Committee of California Pacific Medical Center. Dr. Wolfson is active with Fleet Week in San Francisco and involved with AIPAC. He was recently appointed a Chief of Orthopedics at San Joaquin General Hospital. 

Dr. Wolfson is the author of many scientific articles and a chief editor and author of a first-of-its-kind, upcoming book on Orthopedic Injuries in Natural Disasters and Mass Casualties.  He is a member of American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, Canadian Orthopedic Association and other national and international organizations. Dr. Wolfson is a Fellow of the American College of Surgery. 

He is a former National boxing champion of two countries and enjoys playing tennis. He is proud and excited to be a resident of one of the best and most beautiful cities in the world: San Francisco, where he resides with his family.