All our professionals at CT Family Foot Care and Surgery maintain the highest levels of accreditation and pursue ongoing education to stay abreast of the latest trends in podiatry.

Education

Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
California College of Podiatric Medicine, San Francisco, California
1994-1999

Honors

• Awarded First Place – 9th Annual American Podiatric Medical Writers Association Student Writing Competition, 1996
• “Foundation for Excellence in Podiatric Medicine” Scholarship Recipient, 1996
• CCPM Honors List, 1996-1998

Leadership Positions

• President Class of 1999 CT Campus, 1998-1999
• Vice-president Class of 1999, 1995-1996
• Teaching Assistant, Lower Extremity Lab, 1997-1998
• Teaching Assistant, Clinical Neurology Lab, 1997
• Vice-president, American Diabetes Awareness Club, 1997-1998
• Workshop Coordinator, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, Student Chapter, 1997-1998

Community Activities

• CT Summer Special Olympics Fit Feet
• Podiatric Homeless Health Project – Pes Clinicus, 1996-1997
• 6th Street Women’s Clinic, 1995
• Podiatric Medicine Team, Corporate Challenge Race, 1996 & 1997

Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering 1983-1987
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York

Post Graduate Education / Residency

Three Year Residency in Foot and Ankle Surgery 1999-2002
Yale / VA CT Healthcare System, New Haven, Connecticut and affiliated hospitals
Chief Resident 2001-2002

Publications

Blume, P.A., Paragas, L.K., Sumpio, B.E., Attinger, C.E. Single-Stage
Surgical Treatment of Noninfected Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 109(2): 601-609, February, 2002

Paragas, L.K., Blume, P.A.
Everything You Should Know About Nail Surgery
Podiatry Today, pp 40-47, Oct 2001.

Paragas, L.K., Attinger, C., Blume, P.A. Chapter 4, Local Flaps
In Blume PA Ed. Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 17(2):267-318, Apr 2000.

Paragas, L.K., Varin, J., Berenter, R.
Use of Gait Patterns to Reveal Possible Disorders in the Geriatric Patient
Journal of American Podiatric Medical Association, 90(4):183-193, Apr 2000.

Licensure

State of Connecticut

Board Certifications

• American Board of Podiatric Surgeons
• Fellow, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
• Diplomate, American Board of Podiatric Surgery

Affiliated Hospitals and Surgery Centers

• North East Alliance Surgery Center, Hamden, CT
• Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, CT
• Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT
• Midstate Medical Center, Meriden, CT

Professional Memberships

American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
American Podiatric Medical Association
Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association

American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine

Kristina C. Bystrak, DPM, AACFAS

SURGICAL RESIDENCY

RESIDENT PHYSICIAN (PGY3-Chief), St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center, Hartfold, CT

• Chief Resident, 2021-2022
• Outpatient Surgical Clinic: Participated in a resident
• Outpatient Surgical Clinic: Participates in a resident run surgical clinic at St Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where patients with all manners of forefoot, rearfoot, and ankle pathology present for surgical evaluation. Residents are responsible for preoperative planning and all post-operative care.
• Outpatient Wound Care Clinic: Outpatient experience in Resident run wound care clinic at the Gengras Podiatry Clinic at St Francis Hospital and Medical Center. This includes working with certified prosthetist and orthotist for development of orthotics and braces.
• On Call Experience: Have completed over 200 days on call at a Level 1 Trauma Center. On call responsibilities include admitting and managing primary patients to the Podiatry service as well as emergency room and inpatient consults with both traumatic and infectious etiologies for over 20 Podiatric attendings associated with SFHMC.
• Medical and Surgical Rotations: Plastic Surgery, Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease, Emergency Medicine, Vascular Surgery, General Surgery, Dermatology, Radiology, Rheumatology, and Behavioral Health.
• Academic and Surgical Skills Workshops: Co-resident moderator of academic and surgical skills workshops (2021) which entailed organizing training events between residents, attendings, and various company representatives. These include cadaver workshops and saw bone workshops. Topics including but not limited to suturing, total contact casting, injections, ankle fracture reduction and fixation, ankle scopes, bunion procedure selection.

SURGICAL DIVERSITY

• Hammertoes
• Bunionectomies (Austin, Lapidus, CBWO, Akin, Implant Arthroplasty, Arthrodesis)
• Forefoot, midfoot and rearfoot trauma / Ankle fractures
• Management of osteomyelitis and infected wounds
• Diabetic limb salvage / Amputations / Charcot reconstruction
• Adult flatfoot reconstruction
• Acute and chronic tendon injuries
• Lower extremity skin flaps with plastic surgeon
• Tendon transfers

EDUCATION

New York College of Podiatric Medicine New York, NY

Doctor of Podiatric Medicine 2015-2019

Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science 2011-2015

HONORS AND AWARDS

NYCPM Merit Based Scholarship (2015-2018)

NYCPM “The Endeavor” News Letter Student in the Spotlight (May 2016)

RESEARCH / PRESENTATIONS

The Effect of Pre-Operative Anemia on Surgical Outcomes of Ankle Fractures Treated with ORIF

Kristina Bystrak DPM, Daniel Wilkes DPM, Amy Bruce DPM, AACFAS

IRB Approved at St Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Data collection in process for manuscript

Gout with Concurrent Giant Cell Tumor: A Case Study

Kristina Bystrak DPM, Danielle Butto DPM, FACFAS

Poster presented at St Francis Hospital Resident Research Fair 2020

Treatment of Charcot Foot with Osteomyelitis Using the Masquelet Technique

Kristina Bystrak DPM, Zachary Hansen DPM, Guang Yang, DPM, Johanna Godoy, DPM, FACFAS

Case Series - Poster Presented at NYCPM Research Poster Day 2019

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS

Board Qualified in Foot Surgery

Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certified

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

CT Special Olympics Volunteer June 2022

New York Cares Volunteer

•    Farm to Pantry Urban Farming with Project Eats, Bronx NY,  Aug 2018
•    Classroom Organization Project Bronx NY,  Aug 2018
•    City Harvest Mobile Market, Bronx NY,  Aug 2018
•    Achilles Kids International, Volunteer Training Partner, New York, NY, 2018

Medical Volunteer

•    New York Half Marathon, Manhattan NY March 2018
•    Diva Half Marathon, Long Island, NY Oct 2017
•    Newport Marathon, Newport, RI                         

HOBBIES/INTERESTS & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Bonefrog Boston (Navy Seal Inspired Mud Run Obstacle Race),   Aug 2021 & May 2022

Plus One Defense Systems Martial Arts Gym Member,   Aug 2019- Present

New York Cares Member,   Aug 2018 - Present

New York Road Runners Member,   Jan 2018 – Present

USA Triathlon Member for Pure Austin Splash and Dash Competition,  July 2018

NYRR NYC Mini10k Runner,   June 2018

Cheshire Half Marathon Runner,   April 2018

Bristol CT Half Marathon for Fisher House Foundation Runner,   Aug 2017