Ralph V. Clayman, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Urology
Specialty
Minimally Invasive Surgery, Renal diseases
Dr. Clayman is world renowned for his expertise in minimally invasive surgery for kidney stone disease, kidney cancer, and strictures of the ureter and is named as one of America's Best Doctors. He is a graduate of Grinnell College and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Following his general surgery and urology training at the University of Minnesota, he spent two years at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas pursuing his interests in renal cancer research, kidney stone disease, and minimally invasive urology. Dr. Clayman spent 17 years at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, rising to the positions of Professor of Urology and Radiology, Director of the Midwest Stone Institute, and Co-director of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery. In January 2002, he assumed the Chair of the newly formed Department of Urology at UCI Medical Center. Dr. Clayman and his associates performed the world's first laparoscopic removal of a kidney for benign disease and for cancer, as well as the first laparoscopic removal of a kidney and ureter to treat cancer. They also developed a balloon catheter to treat obstruction of the ureter and performed pioneering work on percutaneous and endoscopic therapy for ureteral and kidney stones.
Dr. Clayman established the first fellowship program in minimally invasive urology, and trainees of his program now occupy academic positions at universities throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel. Dr. Clayman is the author of textbooks on laparoscopic and percutaneous urologic surgery, and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. He is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Endourology and has seven minimally invasive surgical instrumentation patents to his name. He has received numerous national and international awards, including the 2001 EXCEL award from the Society of Laparoscopic Surgeons, thereby becoming the first urologic surgeon to receive this recognition. Dr. Clayman's patient care, teaching, and research efforts are focused on developing a kinder, gentler surgery in which incisions are either reduced in size or eliminated all together. In order to accomplish this goal, he and his team continue to explore a broad range of minimally invasive and noninvasive surgical techniques to bring up-to-the-moment technology into the operating room
Training
Undergraduate: Grinnell College
Medical School: University of California, San Diego
Residency: University of Minnesota
Postgraduate Studies: Endourology and Laparoscopic Surgery
