New Interim Chair
Sandra Dayaratna, MD, is Thomas Jefferson University's New Interim Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Sandra Dayaratna, MD
Thomas Jefferson University would like to offer a warm welcome to Sandra Dayaratna, MD, as she steps into the role of Interim Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
“I’m honored to lead this prestigious department as Interim Chair, and to continue educating the next generation of women's health experts," shares Dr. Dayaratna. "Women's reproductive health is critical. At Jefferson, we will continue to provide exceptional care. As a leader in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology since 2009, I understand, firsthand, the unimaginable toll the pandemic took on the lives and spirits of all of us. I am eager to work with my incredible team to deliver the most advanced OBGYN care in the region.”
About Sandra Dayaratna, MD
Dr. Dayaratna joined the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jefferson in 2009 as the Associate Residency Director. She was appointed Clerkship Director at West Virginia University School of Medicine in 2012, and then returned to Jefferson in 2014 as the Division Director of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Over the last eight years in this role, the division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology has more than doubled in size. She oversaw the successful creation of new clinical practice sites at the Art Museum, the Navy Yard and at Methodist Hospital, and facilitated the integration of a midwifery practice into Jefferson OBGYN. At Jefferson Health, she successfully initiated a new ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocol on labor and delivery, adapting pre-op management protocols from the surgical arena, and tailoring it to obstetrics. This has resulted in a substantial decrease in narcotic use after cesarean delivery.
Dr. Dayaratna is a graduate of Yale University and received her medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. She subsequently completed her internship and residency at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY and received an executive MBA from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Haslam Business School. She is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, and has previously held faculty appointments at Harvard University, Case Western Reserve University and West Virginia University. Dr. Dayaratna has served as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology representative to both the American College of Radiology and the CDC regarding breast density and breast cancer screening, and has co-authored evidence-based recommendations on these issues. She has been invited speaker at multiple national and regional conferences on the topics of breast density, breast cancer screening and medical education. She has served as an oral board examiner for the certifying examination for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology since 2011. Dr. Dayaratna also served as an integral member and subsequently the program chair for PRECOG, the Philadelphia Regional Educational Consortium, a collaboration of six local OBGYN residency programs, established over a decade ago, to develop and introduce a structured curriculum to teach basic surgical skills to first year residents. She has multiple publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Obstetrics and Gynecology and is the recipient of multiple local and national teaching awards including the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Education at Thomas Jefferson University, and the National Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents from the Council on Residency Education in OBGYN.