Keith A. Hernandez, MD

Keith Hernandez, MD, is an anesthesiologist and a former military pilot who came to medicine after a career-ending lung injury in Iraq.

Similar to aviation, anesthesiology focuses heavily on safety and established protocols.

“We have the challenge of safely and efficiently running multiple operating rooms, as well as providing a positive experience for our patients, surgeons, and staff,” Dr. Hernandez says.

He says he enjoys reassuring and comforting patients who are about to go into the operating room. “I tell them they will be safe and expertly cared for,” he says. “I also assure them that we don’t do any anesthesia training here. No one is learning on your airway. The tube will go in while you are asleep and come out before you wake up. None of this makes for a good movie. We make sure you are sleeping and breathing.”

Dr. Hernandez is the medical director of Yale Medicine Shoreline Outpatient Surgical Services in Guilford.