Carrie Swigart, MD
Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and RehabilitationCards
About
Titles
Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
Biography
Dr. Swigart trained in orthopedics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and did her hand fellowship at the CV Starr Hand Surgery Center at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City (now Mt. Sinai West). She returned to Yale after her fellowship and has been on faculty since 1997. She is currently an associate professor in the department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and the section chief of hand and upper extremity surgery.
Dr. Swigart sees patients of all ages for a wide variety of issues related to their hands, wrists and arms. These include traumatic injuries, workplace injuries, degenerative conditions and nerve compression syndromes. Areas of particular interest include Dupuytren's disease, thumb basal joint arthritis and wrist injury. Although patients may require surgery, other treatment options are often available and these may include hand therapy, splinting and steroid injection. "I believe in engaging the patient as an active participant in their care whenever possible. An engaged patient will always have an improved outcome no matter the treatment choice."
Appointments
Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation
Associate Professor on TermPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Fellow
- Roosevelt Hospital (1997)
- Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (1996)
- MD
- University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Medicine (1991)
- BA
- Wellesley College, BioPhysics and Mathematics (1986)
Research
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Clinical Care
Overview
Carrie Swigart, MD, is a hand surgeon, and the chief of hand and upper extremity surgery for Yale Medicine Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation. Dr. Swigart has been caring for people of all ages with disorders and injuries of the arm, elbow, hand and wrist for more than 20 years. She has highly specialized expertise in treating people with traumatic injuries, workplace injuries, degenerative conditions and nerve compression syndromes.
“For hand surgeons, it’s all about function,” Dr. Swigart says. “I feel it is important to find out not only what is causing a patient’s problem with their hand, but also how it is impacting their life. That information allows me to best tailor a treatment that helps them achieve their goals.”
While some patients will need surgery, others are surprised that there are nonsurgical options that will solve their problems as well. Dr. Swigart has helped many people regain significant function with the help of hand or physical therapy, custom splinting or casting, or a steroid injection.
An associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Swigart says that mentors she met during her residency influenced her choice of hand surgery as a specialty. She was attracted to the opportunity to treat “a wide variety of issues and tissues,” including arthritis, traumatic injuries, and conditions of nerves, tendons and ligaments. “In hand surgery, we treat all things related to the hand and arm, and are not limited to a type of problem or age range,” she says.
Dr. Swigart is also conducting research that she expects will bring continued improvements to hand surgery; for instance, a recent project was a clinical study that looked at the durability of muscle repair in wrist fracture surgery. She has been included in annual lists of the best doctors in the region.
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Dupuytren's Contracture
Learn More on Yale MedicineHand Surgery
Learn More on Yale MedicineWrist Fracture
Learn More on Yale MedicineGanglion Cyst
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Hand Surgery (Orthopaedics)
- Certification Organization
- AB of Orthopaedic Surgery
- Latest Certification Date
- 2011
- Original Certification Date
- 2001
Orthopaedic Surgery
- Certification Organization
- AB of Orthopaedic Surgery
- Latest Certification Date
- 2011
- Original Certification Date
- 2000
Yale Medicine News
Links & Media
News
- May 02, 2024
2024 “Top Doctors” List Features 15 Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation Faculty
- May 02, 2024
Yale Surgeons Recognized by Connecticut Magazine's 2024 “Top Doctors” List
- May 04, 2023
2023 “Top Doctors” List Features 12 Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation Faculty
- May 05, 2022
2022 ‘Top Doctors’ List Features 11 Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation Faculty