With over twenty-five years of experience Dr. Alan Reznik is Board-Certified in Orthopaedics and Arthroscopic surgery, specializing in Shoulder and Knee surgery. A Westinghouse Science talent search honoree, Dr. Reznik received his Bachelor of Science from Columbia University's School of Engineering. At Yale University School of Medicine, his expertise in engineering merged with his love of medicine and forged a career in Orthopaedic Surgery. During his residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in NY, he served as a court physician at the US Open Tennis Tournament and was selected for a fellowship at Oxford University at the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre. He then completed his Sports Medicine Fellowship at University of California, San Diego with Dr. Dale Daniel, a world-renowned knee ligament expert, and Dr. Raymond Sachs, a groundbreaking shoulder expert.
Returning with his wife and family to New Haven, Dr. Reznik was a founding member of the Yale-New Haven Hospital's Orthopaedic Trauma team and awarded the Yale Residents' Teaching Award. He served on the game organizing committee for the 1995 Special Olympics, caring for special athletes from over 105 countries. He was the team physician for a professional hockey team, the New Haven Knights.
Dr. Reznik is rated by Connecticut Magazine as a “Top Doc" in the state by patients, nurses, physicians from other specialties, and his orthopaedic surgeon peers seventeen times. He is an active member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He has served on the national communications cabinet, the committee on quality and research, patient safety committee and editorial board of AAOS Now. He has been named as one of "America's Top Physicians" by the Consumer's Research Council of America. Most recently he was asked to serve nationally on the American Academy of Orthopaedics Communications Cabinet.
He serves on a number of board of directors including being the Chief medical officer of Connecticut Orthopaedics. He frequently writes educational articles for patients’ and physician education. He has written two books; “The Knee and Shoulder Handbook for All of Us” and “I Have Fallen, and I Can Get Up.” Dr. Reznik is an expert in arthroscopic techniques for shoulder and knee repair. He has innovated many procedures, invented surgical instruments and holds seven patents to date. Specializing in adult and pediatric sports medicine, he enjoys taking care of casual, recreation, professional and working athletes of all ages.
Personal statement
My excitement comes from the exploration of new ideas, refining old ones and discovering how overlapping knowledge from different fields help seed advances and invention. With a strong background in mathematics, I started to program computers in high school, majored in chemical engineering at Columbia University and used my skills to computerize the chemistry of infant breathing to help understand Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The physicians running the project encouraged me to apply to medical school. I did apply and ultimately gained acceptance to the Yale University School of Medicine.
Once in medical school, with engineering, math and woodworking already in my blood, I found that the spatial reasoning and mechanics of orthopedic surgery was a great fit for me. That lead to work on the chemistry of bone cement, teaching biomechanics and then research in the science of ligament repair. After residency, minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery was gaining importance. I began to invent new methods and instruments to improve the arthroscopic surgical techniques. That lead to five patents and several instruments that are in use today.
In recent years, I have returned to my roots in computer science and renewed my interest in artificial intelligence. A number of my articles on AI and medicine have been published and two patents were granted on a novel user-directed search enhancement. The goal of the invention and its application is to restore discovery and serendipity to search process.
From taking care of patients, writing, lecturing, consulting, board positions to patents, I enjoy the process of helping others maximize the use of new knowledge to achieve their goals. One of my greatest pleasures is in using my varied background in helping people with orthopaedic injuries getting back a better quality of life.