About Me

Dr. Bernal attended college at Miami University earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Microbiology and then attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, earning her medical degree in 2001. She completed a general surgery residency at Saint Louis University Hospital in 2008, a pediatric surgery research fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in 2005, an adult and pediatric surgical critical care fellowship from Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin in 2009, and a burn surgery fellowship from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2010. She has completed the practice pathway for Clinical Informatics in 2020 through the American Board of Preventative Medicine and University of California Irvine.

Dr. Bernal is a Leadership Institute Fellow in The Society of Black Academic Surgeons, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Medical Association, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Burn Association, and the Association of Women Surgeons. She served as an instructor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, was a Clinical Assistant professor at both University of Iowa Hospitals and Professor of Surgery at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, and is now the Director of the burn Program for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Burn Center. Dr. Bernal will be responsible for overseeing acute and reconstructive care of patients within the burn services, leading an interdisciplinary health care team to optimize performance within burn services and ensuring effective education and training of attending physicians, residents and fellows.

Dr. Bernal has participated in numerous research studies, many of which related to trauma, burns, wound care, and infections. She currently has published 33 peer-reviewed journal articles, been part of over 60 scientific presentations and conference proceedings, has been invited to present over 70 lectures, and has been awarded 16 grants. She is a leader in the American Burn Association’s Quality Committee and committed to the delivery of high-quality innovative burn care.

Procedures and Conditions I Treat

• Surgery, Plastic
• Burns
• Burns, Electric
• Community Medicine
• Community Outreach

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