MEET DR. ELI ZIV

Biography

Dr. Ziv was born in California and raised in the San Fernando Valley.  He attended Birmingham High School where he was a National Merit Scholar.  Dr. Ziv then attended UCLA for his undergraduate studies, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience (Psychobiology).  While at UCLA, he worked in the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery where he co-authored multiple research studies and flew with the transplant team during heart transplants.  Dr. Ziv earned his medical degree (M.D.) from UC Irvine where he was elected to the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society and received several other academic awards.  He then spent 5 years performing his residency at the USC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery where he divided his time between LA County-USC Medical Center, USC University Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  Dr. Ziv then performed his Hand Surgery Fellowship at the prestigious NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York.  After this long training path, he then practiced orthopaedic hand surgery for 10 years at the Center for Orthopaedic Specialists in West Hills and Westlake Village, performing over 4,000 operations, most in the hand and elbow.  In late 2013, Dr. Ziv was sworn in as Major Ziv in the U.S. Army Reserve (Medical Corps).  He immediately volunteered for deployment to Afghanistan, and in September 2014 left his practice and deployed to Forward Operating Base Shank in eastern Afghanistan, where he was the sole orthopaedic surgeon on an elite Forward Surgical Team.  In January 2015 he opened a new practice, Valley Hand & Orthopaedic, with offices in Van Nuys, Thousand Oaks, and Valencia.  Dr. Ziv now plans to build on his decade of providing compassionate, focused one on one care to residents of the San Fernando and Conejo Valleys in a more intimate setting.

Philosophy

Dr. Ziv believes that at heart, the doctor’s examination and questioning of the patient are the key to successful diagnosis and treatment.  Although he is fully up-to-date on all of the latest medical technologies, he knows that technology can be used and misused.  The saying ‘”treat the patient and not the test result” has never been more true.  Dr. Ziv has seen many cases where treatment or surgery was performed based on an MRI or other test where a good examination  would have shown what the actual problem was.  Dr. Ziv does not employ any Physician Assistants or other mid-level providers and examines every patient himself.  He only orders a test if it is clear that the result of the test might make a difference in choosing the right treatment.   Finally, Dr. Ziv treats more than 90% of his patients without surgery, depending on the problem, utilizing therapy, medication, or an injection whenever possible.