Charisse Ward, M.D., has joined the Hospital of Central Connecticut’s medical staff. She earned her medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine, Boston. Ward completed an internal medicine internship and residency at Yale University School of Medicine. She practices as a hospitalist at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.
Ward was a naval officer for several years before joining the Hospital of Central Connecticut. It was a position that helped shape her as a person. “It was a valuable experience for me to continue to learn, to push myself to limits I wouldn’t have before and to serve as a naval officer,” said Ward, adding she was the first person in her family to serve in the military.
Her naval career took her to well-known institutions like Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda Naval Hospital, in Bethesda, Maryland, where she did a year of post-graduate training. She spent her time there helping military personnel get ready to deploy overseas and treat them, if needed, when they returned. She also earned a Masters in Public Health from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ward explained her position as hospitalist as being relatively new in the medical field. Doctors in this specialty typically perform no outpatient services and focus solely on treating critically ill patients. What appeals to her about this line of medicine is it allows her time to teach and venture in the administrative areas of medicine.
Eventually, Ward said she would like to pursue a career in administration. “I really want my focus to be on the teaching aspect of medicine and how to provide patient centered care. Eventually, I would like to be a hospital director or chief of medicine.”
She admits that as a hospitalist she does not have the advantage of seeing the same patients regularly like a doctor in family practice might. “You do see a lot of new people, but people do get rehospitalized,” Ward said. “We (do) maintain a relationship with their primary care physicians … so the continuity of care exists.”
Away from the hospital, Ward’s downtime focuses on outside pursuits. She described herself as interested in biking and tennis. And, being true to the stereotype of her profession, she also admits to being in the midst of learning how to play golf.
