Formosa C. Chen, MD, MPH

Dr. Formosa Chen is the Division Chief of General Surgery at UCLA West Valley Medical Center, and a Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She is board certified in both General Surgery and Colon and Rectal Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Chen joined the UCLA Department of Surgery in 2014 as a general and colorectal surgeon at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, a Los Angeles County safety-net hospital, where she has built a high-volume clinical practice caring for underserved and vulnerable patients across the county. She has also held multiple leadership and teaching roles in undergraduate and graduate medical education at UCLA, including as Associate Program Director of the UCLA General Surgery Residency, and she founded a multidisciplinary surgical education research group whose work spans resident assessment, workplace culture, gender issues, and bias in selection. Her research also examined colorectal cancer care quality and diverticulitis management. She has received UCLA's Golden Scalpel Teaching Award four times, along with the DGSOM Golden Apple Teaching Award and the Kaiser-Permanente Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Chen specializes in the care of patients with colon and rectal cancer, hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes, complex polyps, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, pelvic floor disorders, and benign and malignant anorectal conditions. She has expertise in complex pelvic surgery and in laparoscopic and robotic techniques, and performs sphincter-preserving operations when appropriate. She also offers colonoscopy and ostomy care, including creation, revision, reversal, and parastomal hernia repair.