Internationally-known bariatric surgeon Kelvin Higa calls his newest associate Dr. Pearl Ma “the best of the best.” Dr. Ma, who was top of her class during her minimally invasive fellowship training with UCSF Fresno, recently joined the Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Program at Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital. She’s also the first woman bariatric surgeon in Fresno County. She says she chose to specialize in bariatric surgery because she found patients with obesity to be the sickest and loves the dramatic turnaround she sees in her patients’ health.