I am excited to announce that Dr. Yonca Arat will be joining our department as Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief of Oculoplastic Surgery effective September 1, 2024.
Dr. Yonca Arat is a board-certified ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery. For the last 8 years, she has been leading the oculoplastic surgery service and serving as a Professor of Ophthalmology at Hacettepe University Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, which is one of the strongest medical centers in Turkey that has served as a launching point for many ophthalmology leaders through the United States and the remainder of western Europe. During her time at Hacettepe, she has developed a leading oculoplastics service, caring for a wide range of patients in one of the nation's top tertiary referral centers.
Dr. Arat received her medical degree at Hacettepe University Medical School in Ankara, Turkey and then completed a residency in ophthalmology at Hacettepe University. She then moved to the United States, where she completed an ophthalmology residency and a fellowship in oculoplastic surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. After fellowship, she served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI as an Assistant Professor for several years before returning to Baskent University Hospital in Ankara, Turkey as an Associate Professor and then Hacettepe University Hospital in Ankara, Turkey as a Professor.
Dr. Arat will be assuming a leadership position at Yale as Chief of Oculoplastic Surgery, where she will lead a strong division with Dr. Michelle Maeng and Dr. Jennifer Renz. Her practice will be broad, consisting of ptosis repair, blepharoplasty, entropion and ectropion surgery, management of benign tumors and cancers of the eyelids and orbit, Mohs reconstruction, facial trauma and orbital reconstruction, lacrimal obstruction, thyroid eye disease, and orbital inflammation.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Arat as the newest member of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science.