Meet our leadership

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David Della-Giustina

Program Director
PGY - 1 Class Advisor

  • Other positions at Yale: Education Section Chief, Wilderness Medicine Fellowship Director, Educational Leadership Fellowship Director

  • Academic Interests: Leadership, medical education, wilderness medicine, orthopedics, back pain

  • Other Interests: college athletics, especially football and basketball

  • Career Background: I was the Residency Program Director of the Madigan – University of Washington Emergency Medicine Residency from 1998 – 2003.  I was Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Madigan from 2002 – 2012 with a 1-year break to be an Emergency Ultrasound Fellow.  I have deployed to Afghanistan twice and to Iraq twice as a physician in US Special Forces and was awarded the Combat Medical Badge for care of casualties while under fire from the enemy.  I retired from the Army in 2012 and have been the Residency Program Director since September 2012.

  • Hometown: Morgantown, West Virginia

  • Education & Residency: College at West Point, Medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. I trained in Emergency Medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA.

 
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Katja Goldflam

Assistant Program Director
PGY - 4 Class Advisor

  • Academic Interests: education, wilderness medicine, ultrasound

  • Other Interests: none at all, I live and breathe the residency

  • Career Background: I did an ultrasound fellowship, started as ultrasound faculty and then transitioned to APD role

  • Hometown: Hamburg, Germany

  • Education & Residency: Brown undergrad and medical school, HAEMR program at BWH/MGH for residency, St Luke's Roosevelt NYC for US fellowship

 
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Alina Tsyrulnik

Assistant Program Director
PGY - 3 Class Advisor

  • Other positions at Yale: Associate Residency Program Director
    Assistant Professor at Department of Emergency Medicine

  • Academic Interests: Resident education, Adult education, Assessment, Evaluation, and feedback.

  • Other Interests: Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family: my husband, three children, and our dog.  When not in the ED, you would find me on a soccer field or a cheerleading competition rooting for my kids (although I refuse to be called a “soccer mom” or a “cheer mom”).  I also enjoy tennis and skiing, but relaxing by the pool is a great option as well! 

  • Career Background: I was born in Kishenev, the capital of Moldova which is one of the former republics of the Soviet Union.  In 1991, my family immigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia.   I attended Barnard College majoring in biology and minoring in psychology, graduating Suma Cum Laude.  Thereafter, I pursued a medical degree at New York University School of Medicine and completed residency at Yale University School of Medicine where I served as Chief Resident 2011-2012.  Upon the completion of her residency, I accepted a faculty position in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale University School of medicine. In 2013 I became the Assistant Residency Director for the department, and in 2017 the Associate Residency Director.  I am primarily in charge of the Emergency Department’s PGY2 class as well as over 120 off-service residents that rotate through the ED every academic year. 

  • Hometown: Although I was born in Kishenev, Moldova, I grew up in Philadelphia from the age of nine and consider that to be my “hometown”

  • Education & Residency: Undergraduate: Barnard College, Columbia University.  Medical School: New York University School of Medicine.  Residency: Yale University School of Medicine Department of EM

 
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Ryan Coughlin

Assistant Program Director
PGY - 2 Class Advisor

  • Other positions at Yale: Director of Residency Feedback and Assessment Tools, Director of Residency Informatics

  • Academic Interests: Directed practice, resident-teacher feedback and remediation, oral boards delivery, mass casualty and austere environment preparedness, active shooter and hostile event response, and prehospital ultrasound for dyspneic adult patients. I create and maintain shared open-source EMS fellowship education and board review materials.

  • Other Interests: Coaching sports for, and traveling with, my 4 children; spending time with my German shepherd, 2 cats, and many chickens; exercising outdoors; house projects, most recently: screened in porch, outdoor shower, and an unreasonably large chicken coop; trying weird beers, cocktails, and food; listening to all types of music.

  • Career Background: I had the privilege of several volunteer experiences assisting persons with different disabilities during the summers in my youth. Later, I would work as a personal care assistant to an amazing young man with a rare mitochondrial disease without a known cure and a dismal prognosis. The patient's unbelievably positive outlook, despite living in such unknown circumstances was inspiring enough to motivate anyone down any path they might dare, and I remained curious about the pathophysiology of the human body. [He continues to do well and improve so many years later, with the help of modern medical advances and his caring family!]

    Fast-forwarding to medical school, I felt most at home in the emergency department. Out of all of the specialists that I encountered, the doctors seemed most like me. Also like me, they seemed to enjoy a little bit of chaos and liked to "leave work at work," and enjoy their free time.

  • Hometown: Longmeadow, MA

  • Education & Residency: Tufts University for undergrad, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Yale-New Haven Hospital for residency and fellowship in Emergency Medical Services, was Chief Resident in 2016 at Yale EM.