Rafael J. Sierra is native of Colombia and graduated from The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota in 1996. He was a Research Fellow for the Division of Arthritis Surgery in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Miami in Florida from 1997 to 2000. After his research fellowship he began his basic surgical and advanced training in Orthopaedics and Trauma at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. After completing his orthopedic training and to pursue a special academic interest in hip surgery, he was awarded with the Hip Society/Müeller Foundation of North America European Travelling Fellowship in Hip Reconstruction and a Mayo Scholarship for the academic year of 2005-2006. The first stop during his fellowship was in Exeter, UK from October 2005 through February 2006.

After his fellowship, he will join the Adult Reconstruction division in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.