Dr. Frank Valone III, a Bay Area native, first became dedicated to medicine through his work with Operation Smile, a non-profit organization dedicated to the delivery of free pediatric surgery throughout the developing world. Upon his return from East Africa, Dr. Valone attended medical school at George Washington University, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha and Thalamus Honors Societies, was a recipient of the Paul Dewitt Surgery Award and was selected as a Gill and American Brain Tumor Association Fellow. Dr. Valone then completed his internship and residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). While at UCSF, he received the Spine Award in both 2012 and 2013 and was recognized by the American Orthopaedic Association as an "Emerging Leader." Dr. Valone completed his spine fellowship in Adult and Pediatric Spine Surgery at Washington University Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center.