Skills

Yale medical school seeks to educate physicians who will demonstrate skill in the core set of activities required for patient care. At the heart of these activities are history taking and physical examination, complemented by facility with the appropriate use and interpretation of procedures and tests. Yale medical students must learn to communicate effectively while carrying out all of these activities. Students must demonstrate the ability to acquire, interpret and apply information from a diverse array of sources to optimize diagnosis and management.

The medical school will ensure that all graduating students demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the faculty, the following:

1. The ability to obtain an accurate medical history that covers relevant and essential aspects of the history, including issues related to age, race, gender, culture, sexuality, and socio-economic status, while recognizing and addressing any barriers to communication.
   
2. The ability to perform both a complete and a focused clinical examination in a    manner that demonstrates respect for the patient.
   
3. An understanding of the clinical method: the process whereby information obtained from the history, physical examination and laboratory data is formulated into a differential diagnosis.
   
4. The ability to formulate a plan of care that takes into consideration the patient's goals of care, and the risks, benefits, alternatives and financial consequences of each therapeutic option.
   
5. The ability to find, identify, critically interpret and utilize the relevant information from both printed and electronic media, and apply the scientific method in order to practice informed, up-to-date medicine.
   
6. An understanding of the principles of medical scholarship, including literature     review, design of hypothesis, formulation of specific aims, identification and application of state-of-the-art methods including statistics, analysis and interpretation of data, and familiarity with the elements of clinical and translational research, and knowledge of the responsible conduct of research.
   
7. The ability to communicate effectively, with patients, patients' families, colleagues, and others with whom physicians must exchange information in carrying out their responsibilities. These abilities should include, among others, proficiency in the education of patients and families, inquiries about domestic violence, breaking bad news, counseling for behavior modification, obtaining informed consent and discussions of end-of-life issues.
   
8. Knowledge of the indications for a core set of medical procedures, as well as the complications of those procedures. Students must demonstrate ability to obtain consent for the procedure, perform the procedure, and to recognize and interpret the results.
   
9. The ability to develop a scientific question, survey the literature, design and carry out a study to address that question, and prepare a written presentation of that work in the form of an independent research project.
   
10. The skills required to be a lifelong physician-scholar, including the ability to assess the validity of the literature and apply the scientific method to clinical decision-making.