Michael Stewart Kutner, MD

Dr. Michael Kutner is a faculty anesthesiologist at Yale School of Medicine with a clinical appointment at Bridgeport Hospital, where he has devoted nearly three decades to the care of some of medicine's most demanding patient populations. His clinical expertise spans two distinct areas of subspecialty focus: burn anesthesia and perioperative care for joint replacement surgery.

In burn care, Dr. Kutner brings deep expertise in burn shock resuscitation, perioperative burn anesthesia, and intraoperative management of complex burn cases, with a commanding familiarity with the American Burn Association's 2023 resuscitation guidelines. He is among a select group of academic anesthesiologists in the United States with dedicated, longitudinal expertise in this high-acuity patient population.

As an integral member of the Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus Joint Replacement Program, Dr. Kutner has championed opioid-sparing regional anesthesia techniques designed to facilitate faster postoperative recovery and better functional outcomes for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery. His contributions were instrumental in helping Milford Hospital achieve Advanced Certification from The Joint Commission — earning the program the Gold Seal of Approval, one of healthcare's most recognized designations for quality and safety.

Dr. Kutner received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine, where he was honored with the American Federation for Clinical Research Award. He completed his Anesthesiology Residency at Baylor College of Medicine, serving as Chief Resident and earning the Virginia Apgar Award for Outstanding Performance in Obstetrical Anesthesia and the Outstanding Cardiovascular Anesthesia Resident Award. Prior to joining Yale, he served on the medical staff at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, where he chaired the Department of Anesthesia and served as Medical Staff President, and was a core team member of both the Nazih Zuhdi Liver Transplant Team and the INTEGRIS Health Paul Silverstein Burn Center.

At Yale, Dr. Kutner is actively engaged in medical education, faculty mentorship, and global health. He serves on the American Burn Association's Global Health Committee, working to advance burn care education and capacity in low- and middle-income countries — work that aligns directly with the ABA's newly adopted vision: "To be the world's defining global resource for burn care." He is currently developing an adapted burn anesthesia and resuscitation curriculum for deployment in low-resource clinical settings globally — work that reflects both the ABA's global vision and Yale's commitment to international health equity. Dr. Kutner is also a committed faculty mentor and active contributor to the development of structured mentorship programs within the Department of Anesthesiology.

Dr. Kutner's career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing anesthesia care for the most vulnerable patients — whether in the burn unit, the operating room, or the global settings where that expertise is needed most.