Many Yale University School of Medicine programs include a rotation at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, where residents gain unique experiences treating the diverse populations that come to a community hospital. Residents work side-by-side with dedicated faculty members – many tops in their field – who greatly enhance the clinical services available to patients. They also add an important dimension to Saint Raphael’s Graduate Medical Education program.
Orthopedics
This Yale University-affiliated training program selects five orthopedic residents each year for work at Saint Raphael’s; the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven campus; Waterbury Hospital; and Yale-New Haven Hospital. Residents rotate through each, with the final year divided into periods spent as chief resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital, the VA Healthcare System, and in laboratory investigation and the study of basic science. The varied patient populations of these four hospitals provide an excellent opportunity to experience the many aspects of orthopedic surgery.
Residents maintain an active conference schedule to study both clinical material and basic science. Residents are also expected to pursue independent investigative projects.
Otolaryngology
The Hospital of Saint Raphael Section of Otolaryngology is one of three teaching sites for PGY 3, PGY 4 and PGY 5 residents in the Yale University School of Medicine residency program. It offers a great breadth of clinical material in surgery and the ENT clinic. Residents have access to an on-site, nine-station temporal bone dissection laboratory and participate in a yearly temporal bone drilling course. Clinical materials range from routine otolaryngological procedures and cosmetic facial surgery to advanced endoscopic sinus surgery, head and neck oncology and skull-based tumors, such as pituitary tumors and acoustic neuromas.
There are opportunities to do research with some of the foremost otolaryngologists in the world, including K.J. Lee, M.D., author of one of the mostly widely used otolaryngology textbooks and past president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, and Eiji Yanagisawa, M.D., who has pioneered numerous endoscopic procedures. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Saint Raphael’s ENT services among the top 50 in the nation.
Pediatrics
The PGY 1 house officer spends four weeks at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, while the PGY 2 is here eight weeks. There is opportunity for selected house staff officers to serve as chief residents for a period of time in their third postgraduate year.
With one of the busiest plastic surgery sections in Connecticut, Saint Raphael’s offers plastic surgery residents the opportunity to experience all aspects of this specialty, including hand surgery, breast surgery, skin cancer surgery, microsurgery, replantation surgery and cosmetic surgery. You will deal with congenital and acquired defects of both adults and children.
The Department of Pediatrics consists of a three-bed inpatient service. There is also the Nursery with 12 bassinets, a Newborn Special Care Unit with six beds, a Primary Ambulatory Care Unit and an Emergency Department. Pediatricians also provide medical care for youths in Saint Raphael’s 20-bed children’s inpatient psychiatry unit.
Saint Raphael’s emphasis is on providing residents with a view of community hospital practice, direct experience with a wide range of pediatric problems, and experience in the private sector of pediatric practice. Saint Raphael’s logs more than 30,000 pediatric visits yearly, including 12,000 to the Primary Care Center, 9,000 to Chapel Pediatrics and 5,000 to the Emergency Department. The Department of Pediatrics also provides care for 1,200 newborns and all child psychiatry inpatients.
Plastic Surgery
The Section of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of Saint Raphael is integrated with Yale University School of Medicine and the Yale Plastic Surgical Residency Program. The 13 plastic surgeons on the attending staff and four on the courtesy staff all have dual and integrated roles at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine. A senior resident in plastic surgery from Yale rotates here every three months, as does a Hospital of Saint Raphael General Surgery resident at the PGY 1 level. The Plastic Surgery Clinic meets every Thursday afternoon, and the Quality Assurance Conference is held monthly in conjunction with Yale.
With one of the busiest plastic surgery sections in Connecticut, Saint Raphael’s offers plastic surgery residents the opportunity to experience all aspects of this specialty, including hand, breast, skin cancer, micro, replantation and cosmetic surgery.
All residents deal with congenital and acquired defects in both adults and children. Chief residents in General Surgery receive extensive exposure, from cleft lip to jaw cancer. Many go on to enter two- or three-year plastic surgical training programs.
Podiatric Surgery
Five podiatric surgery residents are annually selected for this three-year, Yale-affiliated program, which can include one or more rotations through Saint Raphael’s. Other major teaching institutions include Yale-New Haven Hospital, the VA Healthcare System and New Britain General Hospital.
Saint Raphael’s provides a comprehensive three-month rotation for one PGY 2 and two PGY 3 residents. A second PGY 2 rotates independently through the Emergency Department. These residents manage hospital inpatients and maintain an active conference schedule, plus cover the outpatient podiatric surgery clinic twice each week. Residents experience a wide variety of podiatric surgery procedures, ranging from forefoot reconstruction to complex trauma and diabetic limb salvage.
PGY 2s also take part in a core orthopedic surgery rotation.
For more information
For further information or to request our brochure, Resident Education at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, call Diane Cacace, House Staff Office, (203) 789-3034.