Melissa Perkal, MD

Associate Professor of Surgery (Trauma); Assistant Chief of Surgery, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Director, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, VA Connecticut Healthcare System

Dr. Perkal has certifications from the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery and in Surgical Critical Care.

Dr. Perkal earned her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in general surgery from Yale University School of Medicine and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Transplantation at Yale University School of Medicine.

She is currently the Director of the Surgical ICU and Assistant Chief of Surgery at the Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital, West Haven Campus. She has a long-standing interest in quality improvement in patient care and is now extensively involved in teaching surgical residents about geriatric issues. She is the PI on a Hartford Foundation Grant to improve geriatric teaching in the ICU.

Dr. Perkal’s national service includes being the Chair of the National Surgical Critical Care Board, President of the Yale Surgical Society, and a member of the Steering committee for Oddsdottir Memorial Lectureship. As part of Dr. Perkal’s role as Chair of the Surgical Critical Care Board, she makes numerous visits to ICUs all over the country when their NSQIP numbers fall.

Dr. Perkal is a reviewer for Annals of Long-Term Care, Clinical Geriatrics, and Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. She has published on topics about clinical transplantation, trauma, glycemic control, central-line infections, and on surgery in the elderly.