Hello, I am Dr. Omid Jalali and was born and raised in Irvine California. I have one older sister who I look up to greatly. My father worked as a GPS engineer and my mother worked in insurance.
In addition to my devotion to academics, I’ve always been heavily involved in athletics. Ultimately, soccer was my passion and I was recruited as a scholarship athlete to the University of California at Berkeley. During my time there, I continued to be active in both academics and athletics, obtaining my degree in undergraduate business administration at the Haas School of Business in addition to completing all pre-med coursework and applying to medical school before the completion of my four years.
In my junior year, I became captain of the Berkeley soccer team, as we rose to the number 1 ranked team in the nation for the first time in our program’s history. In my senior year, I became the first Cal soccer player to be selected as the PAC 12 scholar-athlete of the year. Towards the end of my playing career, I sustained a Lisfranc injury. Though devastating at the time, that injury ultimately led to my first introduction in orthopedics, which developed into my new passion and the focus of my life since.
I was first introduced to Operation Walk during the annual San Diego Orthopaedic Society Conference. Interested in arthroplasty, I was excited to hear about the organization and the potential opportunity to volunteer in a field that excites me. Mrs. Jeri Ward spoke of the mission of OpWalk and highlighted the amazing work that’s been accomplished. Her passion for the organization as well as its amazing vision, hard work, and dedication inspired me and I became desperate to be a part of it.
I approached my residency leadership, who directed me to the scholarship. I am truly humbled to have been selected and am tremendously grateful to be a part of something so big. The opportunity to restore the mobility and independence of patients who otherwise would not be able to undergo an arthroplasty procedure is a true honor that I will cherish forever. This is why I went into medicine and represents the true essence of what it means to be a healthcare provider. To be a part of an organization with such a meaningful mission in the midst of the rollercoaster that is residency has reminded me exactly why I became a surgeon. Without the scholarship, this would never have been possible. I will forever be grateful to Ms. Paula Paulus for allowing me to be a part of this.
In the future, I plan to incorporate volunteer work for a non-profit into my practice and hope to attend service missions annually. I forever thank Operation Walk and the tremendous generosity of Ms. Paulus for providing me with the means and motivation to be a part of such inspirational and fulfilling work!