Giving with Impact: How alumni are shaping the YSM student experience

November 14, 2023

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The virtual conversation showcased the impact of alumni philanthropy on the medical student experience of today.

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00:06Good evening and welcome.
00:08Thank you so much for
00:11joining us this evening.
00:12My name is Amanda Bassett,
00:14and I'm the Director of Alumni Affairs
00:17and Giving for the School of Medicine.
00:20I'm so excited to have you with us
00:22to showcase how your contributions
00:24to the Alumni fund have shaped
00:26and enhanced the medical student
00:28experience over the past year.
00:30Tonight I'm joined by my colleagues, Dr.
00:33Anne Arthur, Director of Alumni Engagement,
00:35Michael Fitzusa, Director of Development,
00:38Bridget Austin, Associate Director
00:39of Annual and Special Giving,
00:41and Tiffany Penn, Communications Manager.
00:44I want to thank them for all the work that
00:46they do to support our alumni community.
00:49Before I introduce our host,
00:51I want to go through a
00:53few housekeeping items.
00:55Please, if you haven't already,
00:56share your class here and where you
00:58are joining us in the chat so we can
01:01get a little bit more acquainted.
01:03Tonight is supposed to be conversational,
01:05so if you are conversational
01:07so if you are comfortable,
01:09I encourage you to please keep your
01:11camera on as that makes for a more
01:13engaging experience for all attendees.
01:15The virtual.
01:16This virtual conversation is being
01:17recorded and will be available for
01:19viewing after the event on the alumni
01:22website and we will also follow this
01:24session up with a post event survey
01:26and would welcome your feedback as we
01:29plan hope to plan future programming
01:32specifically towards your interests.
01:34Please ensure that you remain muted
01:36throughout the conversation to ensure
01:39all attendees can hear appropriately.
01:41There will be time at the end
01:43of this discussion for Q&amp;A,
01:45so please, as we head towards that,
01:47feel empowered to use the Raise Hand
01:49function at the bottom of your screen
01:51or place your question in the chat,
01:53and we'll do our best to get
01:55to all of the questions.
01:57Should you have any issues
01:59during our conversation,
02:00please feel free to use the chat function
02:02and our team will work to answer all of
02:05all of the issues you might be facing.
02:08And a friendly reminder for those
02:09of you who are class agents,
02:11please stay on at the end of this call
02:13for a quick update on your end giving.
02:16I am so pleased without further ado to
02:18introduce you all to Doctor Mark Meyer
02:20who will be our host for this session.
02:23Mark was appointed the Chair of Agents
02:25for the Alumni Fund in July of 2022 after
02:27serving as Co Chair for three years.
02:30He has been a class agent since
02:322015 and an active School of
02:34Medicine volunteer for many years.
02:36Mark,
02:36I want to thank you for your leadership
02:39and partnership as an alumni volunteer
02:41and really appreciate you hosting
02:44this conversation this evening.
02:46Take it away.
02:48Thank you very much, Amanda,
02:50and a special thanks to all of our alumni,
02:52volunteers and donors in attendance.
02:56I also want to say hello to all
02:57the people I know on the call,
02:59and I'm looking forward to talking to
03:01any of you I I've never met before.
03:03I want to say a special
03:05hello to Doctor Al Weil,
03:07who is joining us nauseatingly from Maui.
03:11You can see in the background there,
03:14but we won't hold it against them.
03:15And Al was my first clinical tutor,
03:18my first week of medical school,
03:21so I hold him responsible for all of the
03:23mistakes that I've made in the last 30 years.
03:27We're here tonight to highlight the
03:29impact of alumni philanthropy on the
03:32medical students experience of today.
03:34Thanks to the support of our
03:36alumni last year and all of you
03:39for helping to get them to donate.
03:41We raised over $1 million and
03:44that has directly enhanced student
03:46life and medical education.
03:50I know everybody always wonders, well,
03:52how does that much money really matter,
03:54given how much money the school raises
03:56in general and the university overall?
03:58But it matters.
04:00It matters very directly to the students.
04:02It matters in their daily lives,
04:05in their research.
04:06And if you need more details on that,
04:08Amanda and Bridget and Anne could very
04:11carefully walk you through all of that.
04:13We're also grateful to be joined
04:16by Doctor Jessica Iluzi,
04:17the Deputy Dean for Education and
04:20Professor of Medical Education
04:22and Professor of Obstetrics,
04:23Gynecology and Reproduced
04:25Productive sciences.
04:26I tried to do all of her
04:28qualifications without taking a breath,
04:30but it's not possible.
04:31She's a graduate of Harvard Medical School,
04:34but we still recognize her as a
04:37qualified physician and completed
04:39her OBGYN residency at Yale in 2006.
04:43She create completed a Master of
04:45Science degree in Epidemiology at
04:47the Yale School of Graduate Studies.
04:50She serves as chief of the Obstetrics,
04:52Specialties and Midwifery Research Division,
04:56as well as the Medical director of the
04:58Badone Birthing Center at Saint Rayfield,
05:01which is now part of Yale New Haven
05:03Hospital in the educational domain.
05:05Doctor Luzi has previously served as
05:08clerkship director and Director of
05:10Medical Studies in OBGYN and curriculum
05:13director for the advanced training
05:15period for the MD program at the school.
05:18She played an active role in
05:20the YSM curriculum redesign.
05:23She is very involved in the RE
05:26accreditation cycles and can use to
05:28be a strong advocate for students,
05:30trainees and faculty in the educational
05:32mission of the Yale School of Medicine.
05:36So I'll turn it over to Doctor Aluzi.
05:37And then I guess after she's finished,
05:40I'll introduce our next speaker.
05:46Great. Thank you so much.
05:56So hello, everyone.
05:57I'm so pleased to be here tonight.
06:00I have a few slides to share with you.
06:03Mostly, I love them because there's
06:06pictures of students in them and
06:08you can see the joy in their faces.
06:11So let me share those,
06:14All right. Can you tell me which are
06:17you seeing the whole slide or are you
06:19seeing the presenter screen? We're
06:22in presenter screen right now. All
06:23right. Let me just switch that.
06:27All right. Is that better?
06:30OK, I'm getting good at the zoom thing.
06:34All right. Well, I want to start by sharing
06:36with all of you our updated mission
06:39statement at Yale School of Medicine.
06:41I am particularly pleased by this statement,
06:44which was worked on by students,
06:47faculty and other stakeholders
06:49across the School of Medicine to
06:51outline what's important here for
06:53us at the Yale School of Medicine.
06:55And I just want to point out what I've put
06:58in bold is that educating and nurturing
07:00creative leaders in medicine and science,
07:03promoting curiosity and critical inquiry
07:05in an inclusive environment enriched
07:08by diversity, is the first sentence
07:11in our previous mission statement.
07:13It didn't have the word educates,
07:15so I'm particularly happy with
07:17the evolution of this statement.
07:19Over time,
07:23I would like to reassure everyone that
07:26the Yale system is alive and going strong.
07:30When we asked students why they
07:32chose Yale in preparation for
07:35our upcoming admission cycle,
07:37we received really great comments
07:39from our current students who are
07:42here really praising their experience
07:44here as a student in the Yale system,
07:48which supports the flexibility and
07:51the passions of the flexibility in
07:54the curriculum and the passions that
07:56our students have to pursue areas
07:59of education and research throughout
08:03their time while they're here.
08:05The MD program may look a little
08:07bit different now than when some
08:09of you came through,
08:10but this is how it is structured
08:13at this time.
08:14So you can see the pre clerkship
08:16period is about a year and a half.
08:18IT students enter their clerkships
08:20in January of their second year
08:23after having completed a year and
08:25a half of integrated courses as
08:28well as clinical skills and the
08:30longitudinal clinical experience.
08:32They go through the clerkships and
08:36then emerge about a year and a half
08:39before graduation and are able to
08:41pursue their passions on their research
08:43and take electives and some internships.
08:46And as many of you know,
08:48many of our students do leave
08:50here to do the the PhD portion.
08:53We have 24 MDPHD students each year
08:56and then another large group of
08:59students do a fully funded 5th year,
09:01which means that they may
09:05achieve an MHS degree,
09:06Masters of Health Science,
09:08or a multitude of other joint degree
09:12programs.
09:12I also wanted to briefly make sure
09:15that everyone was updated with regard
09:18to our strategic planning domains.
09:20We are very excited to be
09:22pursuing these domains,
09:23so I'm just going to briefly go over them.
09:26So the first domain is related to student
09:29engagement and attaining competency.
09:32And you may be thinking, you know,
09:35how does that jive with the Yale system?
09:38We just underwent an LCME accreditation
09:41visit and we were tasked with determining
09:45how we could show the LCME that we help
09:49our students monitor their progress
09:51in attaining competency in a system,
09:53as you know,
09:55where we don't really have grades.
09:57And there's a lot of independence
10:00and anonymity in testing.
10:02So let me share with you.
10:04So first of all,
10:06we have engaged in a much more
10:08innovative way of engaging our
10:11students in our curriculum.
10:12This is the new technology that we're
10:15currently using when we teach anatomy.
10:17We still have cadaver dissection
10:20and students spend time going
10:22through each organ system,
10:23but we also supplement that with
10:26some of this type of virtual reality
10:30and visual imagery As far as helping
10:33our students monitor their progress.
10:36This is our creative way of
10:39meeting the LCME requirements,
10:41but giving students the ability to
10:44monitor their progress in meeting the
10:46milestones across the curriculum.
10:48We now assign our students to an A
10:51longitudinal coach that they meet in
10:54the first month of the curriculum
10:56and that person follows them through
10:58all four years of
11:00the curriculum and looks with the
11:02student at their progress across
11:05all the domains whether it's
11:07clinical reasoning mechanisms and
11:09treatments of disease communication,
11:11professional identity formation.
11:13So in this way we're able to minimize
11:18testing and have active engagement
11:21in students own own progress.
11:23Our second domain is in increasing
11:26and enhancing faculty participation
11:28in the educational mission.
11:31For those of you who are working
11:33in academic medical centers,
11:34you probably are aware how challenging
11:37this can be in an environment
11:40where there's a lot of pressure
11:43on our physicians to increase
11:45the Rvus that they're producing,
11:47not as much time to engage
11:50with students and trainees.
11:52And so we've been working really hard
11:55to make sure that our faculty are
11:57able to find the time to participate
12:00not only in teaching by providing
12:02protected time for that teaching,
12:05but also increasing its value
12:07in the promotions process.
12:09This is our new Center for medical education,
12:12which really helps student faculty develop
12:15their teaching skills and helps them
12:18develop scholarship in medical education.
12:23Our last domain,
12:24which may be the most exciting,
12:26are the ways that we are trying
12:28to build a more inclusive and
12:30enriched learning environment.
12:31So I'll go through some examples of that.
12:34So we are creating 6 new colleges
12:37similar to the undergraduate model
12:40where we will be having multiple social
12:44gatherings and mentorship opportunities.
12:46And at this point in time,
12:50we have the six colleges formed.
12:52Students are assigned to them
12:54based on their advisors.
12:56You might notice there are no
12:58names for the colleges right now.
12:59They are only identified by callers.
13:02We did put out a call for nominations
13:05for the names of our colleges and
13:08many of you participated in that call
13:11and we had over 451 nominations.
13:14So we are working very hard to
13:18determine which six names will
13:22be assigned to our colleges.
13:24In the meantime,
13:26we are going by colors and as you can see,
13:29each of the colleges is supervised
13:32by an academic advisor and then the
13:34coaches that I introduced you to.
13:36Currently there are three per college
13:39and that number will be increasing
13:41to six per college next year.
13:43And then you can see we've got students
13:45from across all years of the curriculum.
13:47And what I love about this is that
13:50the gatherings that we've had so far,
13:53you're seeing first years interfacing
13:55with fourth years and MDPHD programs
13:58who are in their PhD portion.
14:00Like right at the beginning.
14:02This is not something that we'd had
14:04been able to really facilitate and
14:06definitely COVID had had kind of
14:09pushed back on on the ability to do that.
14:12So I think that we're really glad
14:14to be resuming these interactions.
14:16We have PA students in who are also
14:19assigned to our college And then
14:21I'm very pleased to see the robust
14:24participation that we have amongst
14:26our faculty, fellows and residents.
14:28There are about 20 for each of the
14:32colleges and then of the alumni.
14:34Really pleased to see the robust
14:37participation of alumni when we
14:40sent out a call.
14:41You may be only recently hearing
14:45from us about being assigned to a
14:48college and some of the orientation
14:50events where we're sharing the
14:52vision of the college.
14:54We did take us a little longer to get this
14:56off the ground than we had anticipated,
14:58most likely due to the fact that we were
15:01being visited by the LCME last month.
15:04That took a sapped a lot of energy and
15:07time from the administration here.
15:09And lastly,
15:10I'd point out that we also have
15:12community liaisons for each of
15:13the colleges who are helping the
15:15students learn more about New Haven,
15:17how they can participate in community
15:20service and outreach within the community.
15:23And really a nice way to kind of
15:26help students in the community
15:28integrate better with one another
15:30and help us improve how we serve
15:33the needs of our community.
15:35One of the other aspects of
15:37domain Three is the build out
15:39of our HealthEquity thread.
15:41This was launched in 2021 and is headed
15:44by Beverly Shears and Doug Shenson,
15:46both faculty here at the School of Medicine.
15:49And they have done a tremendous amount of
15:51work to look at our pre clerkship curriculum,
15:54the clerkship curriculum and now even the
15:57advanced training period in our capstone
15:59course to make sure that students are
16:01learning about the social determinants
16:03of health throughout the curriculum,
16:05learning about the contributors
16:08to disparities in health outcomes.
16:11And you know one of the areas as
16:14an OBGYN that I am most interested
16:17in are the disparities of maternal
16:20morbidity and mortality.
16:21Those are taught as early as the intro to the
16:25profession course in our advanced training.
16:29Sorry, across the lifespan course
16:31in the pre clerkship curriculum,
16:33it gets revisited again in the clerkships,
16:36women's and Children's Health and
16:38then again in the capstone course.
16:40So that's an example of a theme that
16:42is revisited throughout the whole
16:44four years and really helping students
16:47to understand how racism has had an
16:52impact on the outcomes for people
16:54who live in the United States.
16:59The recent class that entered
17:03in this year is very diverse.
17:06It's our divert most diverse class
17:09yet at the School of Medicine.
17:11As you can see we have 35% who are
17:14under represented in medicine and
17:16they come from all over the country.
17:1858 colleges and universities,
17:2127% are born outside of the US and we've
17:25had this year we have 17 MDPHD students.
17:30I just wanted to share a brief slide
17:33showing you what has happened with the
17:37cost of attending medical school over
17:41the past couple years and decades.
17:44Our tuition is now 71,000 that
17:47includes the the activity fees as well.
17:51And then we estimate 22,000 for room
17:55and board and 13,000 for other expenses
17:58like transportation and the other
18:01costs of being a medical student.
18:04One of the things that we're very
18:06excited about is that the for students
18:09who qualify for financial aid,
18:14we are now able to provide most
18:16of it in scholarship.
18:18So 75,000 is the average scholarship
18:21that we provide to students who
18:24qualify for financial aid and we
18:28only require 10,000 in borrowing.
18:33One of the things I would point
18:35out here is that this still does
18:38leave a student family contribution
18:40for most families and that is an
18:43area that we are working hard on
18:45because there are some students.
18:47Even though we are requiring
18:51$10,000 of loan each year,
18:53there are some students who decide that
18:56their families cannot contribute the
18:58determined amount and have ended up
19:01taking out more than the $10,000 loan.
19:03But this is the amount that is required.
19:07And as you can see this approach
19:09over the years,
19:10especially with the support of our alumni,
19:13has been able to bring the median debt
19:17or average debt at graduation for the
19:20Yale School of Medicine significantly
19:22lower than many of our peer schools.
19:25So this is all public and private
19:28schools up above and you can
19:30see that it's closer to 200,000.
19:33We are currently at 106 as per
19:37average average graduating debt.
19:38So we have a lot more to go in
19:42in making this trying to improve
19:45the debt that our students carry
19:47with them after graduation.
19:50For those students who do
19:53qualify for financial aid,
19:55they at the moment with
19:58the $10,000 loan each year,
20:01would graduate with a $40,000 debt.
20:08And then lastly, I just want to
20:10conclude with showing you where our
20:13students are going after they leave.
20:15We still have a very active group of
20:20students who are get very involved in
20:23both community service and research,
20:26perform very well academically
20:27and are matching at some of the
20:30top programs across the country.
20:37So I'm going to start my slides right now
20:43and probably we'll be turning this over to
20:49Paul or back to Mark. Yeah, that's good.
20:53I'll introduce Paul.
20:54Thank you so much, Doctor. Lucy.
20:56Lucy, I know we'll have time
20:58for some questions at the end,
21:01or I hope we will.
21:02So joining us tonight also
21:04is Doctor Paul Tavreau.
21:05I had the pleasure of speaking with
21:07him the other day for the first time.
21:09Paul is a practicing cardiac
21:11electrophysiologist and Chairman and
21:13Managing Partner at the Huntsville
21:15Hospital's Heart Center in Huntsville, AL.
21:17He heard his MD and MPH from the University
21:20of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001,
21:23and he came to Yale,
21:25where he was a resident in the
21:27early part of the 21st century and
21:30chief resident in primary care
21:31at the Yale Primary Care Program.
21:34He returned to the University
21:36of Alabama and was named Chief
21:38Fellow in Cardiovascular diseases
21:40and then electrophysiology.
21:42He's a clinical assistant professor of
21:44medicine at the University of Alabama,
21:46the vice chair of the medical staff
21:49at Huntsville Hospital and the
21:51acting governor to the American
21:54College of Cardiology in Alabama.
21:56I feel really unaccomplished when
21:58I introduced all of these people.
22:01Doctor Tavro is also one of the
22:05alumni fund's most generous donors
22:08and in 2021 was the inaugural lead
22:11donor for the newly created Giving
22:13Opportunity within the Fund to Support
22:16DEI Students initiatives here at Yale.
22:18So I will turn it over to Paul.
22:21Thank you so much, Mark,
22:22and thank you all for being here.
22:24This is a joy for me to be able to
22:27share a little bit with you all my
22:30experience and interest in the fund.
22:32And I come to it from the residency
22:35fellow perspective rather than from
22:37the medical student perspective,
22:39which many of you really had
22:41as your experience at Yale.
22:43But I had gotten involved I guess
22:46in in giving to the Fund when we
22:49had a reunion for Steve Hewitt,
22:50one of my professors,
22:52a few years back and that led to a
22:57lot of reconnections with friends and
22:59faculty that I have had just wonderful
23:02relations with through the years.
23:05My training at Yale was really one
23:06of the highlights of my career.
23:07I learned a lot.
23:08It was a very new experience for me.
23:10I grew up in a very rural background in
23:13from from a very small town in Alabama,
23:15kind of a a poor rural town in North Alabama.
23:19And when we came to Yale,
23:22I received not only outstanding
23:24training and exposure,
23:26but it gained a lot of friendships
23:28in that time.
23:28And so really during and after
23:32the COVID experience,
23:34I continue to kind of seek things that
23:37reverberate that feeling of connection,
23:40'cause I think we lost a lot of
23:42connections in that period of time.
23:44As a donor,
23:46I was particularly drawn after
23:47talking with our,
23:48our doning advisors at Yale about some
23:51of the opportunities that exist there.
23:53And specifically,
23:54I've always looked at ways of improving
23:59a perspective from an institution
24:01on disadvantages that might exist
24:03either in the selection process,
24:05the mentorship process,
24:06or really even just in the daily
24:09experience of being a student.
24:11So after discussions with the
24:12development team in the AT at the
24:15Yale School of Medicine I felt
24:17particularly called to be a leader in
24:19the diversity and equity and inclusion space,
24:21which was just getting off the
24:23ground at that point and also
24:26in our student emergency fund.
24:28So at first glance a white male
24:31leader from the South seems like a
24:33weird advocate for the DEI fund.
24:36But like I said,
24:37I grew up in a kind of a a small town,
24:39rural community and I have felt both
24:42out of place and sometimes unincluded
24:45in lots of different environments in my life,
24:48not in life.
24:49When I first came to Yale I was
24:51definitely the fish out of water and
24:53my slow southern draw was always a
24:56unique feature of of my part of the rounds.
24:59So,
25:01but all to say,
25:04when one of the gifts of DI involvement
25:07that I have learned and really taken
25:10root in has been the message that DI is
25:13really something that involves all of us.
25:17It's really not related to any
25:20specific group or activity,
25:22but it's a concept.
25:23And in my mind that concept
25:26is one of belonging.
25:28I think the sense of belonging is what we all
25:31desire in our lives and our careers.
25:33I think that our efforts to improve
25:35access to all students and residents,
25:37fellows in the selection, mentorship,
25:39and then their daily interaction,
25:40should be at the core value.
25:42At Yale, I have come to understand
25:46the needs of our students,
25:47and it is clear, unfortunately,
25:49that there are still inequalities
25:52that exist and they're alive and
25:55well at our beloved institution.
25:58But we, the alumni,
25:59can fill some of that gap,
26:01and I have seen that first hand that gap.
26:05Some of the giving that has been
26:08given has been used to share,
26:09even to bare essentials
26:11for some of these students,
26:12such as clothing or even groceries.
26:15Our trainees should never feel embarrassed
26:18or lesser than for just not having the
26:22access to basic essentials of needs.
26:24We can make a difference to ensure
26:26that these are not the stressors that
26:29define their time and experience.
26:31While a student at Yale in December of 2021,
26:36we did make quite an impact as
26:39the inaugural donor to this newly
26:42established Diversity,
26:43Equity and Inclusion initiative.
26:46With the support of of the Fund,
26:49my family and I contributed to
26:51leverage the participation really
26:53from the YSM alumni community and
26:56the year end challenge resulted
26:58in nearly a $440,000 a gift of
27:01support to the Yale students.
27:04I'm really thrilled and really touched it.
27:07It's very meaningful to me that we
27:09have been able to help students lives
27:12in this direct way that was really
27:15our most successful calendar year to
27:18record for the Yale School of Medicine.
27:21In those four short weeks,
27:22I'll tell you that 55 donors gave to the
27:25New DEI Fund to a total of around $17,800.
27:29We welcomed 70 new alumni and
27:31friends to the donor community.
27:34We had more than 130 donors make larger
27:37gifts than they made the prior year
27:40and the school received 7 gifts at the
27:4310,000 plus level leadership level,
27:45two of which went on to be named for the
27:49one year Dorothy Hortzman scholarships.
27:51I'm thrilled to announce that tonight
27:54that my family plans to again provide
27:57a pledge of an additional 100,000
28:00to offer a new year end challenge.
28:03We'll be kicking this off this challenge
28:05on Giving Tuesday, November 28th,
28:07running through December 31st,
28:10and all gifts to the alumni
28:12fund will be matched.
28:13I promise you that we are making a
28:16difference in the lives of Yale students,
28:18residents,
28:18and fellows and trainees
28:22and that every dollar
28:24does matter. I hope that you will
28:26consider giving back and supporting the
28:29next generation of trainees at Yale.
28:31And if you've already made
28:33your gifts for this year,
28:34please think of us next year.
28:36Thanks, Mark.
28:39Thank you so much, Paul.
28:40You know, it's so amazing to see
28:44that we have such generous support
28:47and leadership from somebody who
28:49completed his residency at Yale.
28:51I was at Yale for medical
28:53school and residency,
28:54and I've often said that
28:57I love them both equally,
28:58which is something considering that
29:00our residency was put on probation
29:02a few times for overworking
29:03the residence when I was there.
29:05But I feel a bond for medical
29:07school and a bond for residency,
29:09and I think a lot of people do.
29:11And I think it's something in the
29:13alumni fund that we hope to work on
29:16going forward to really engage the
29:18residents who who went on to great
29:20careers and really learned how to do that.
29:22I always tell people the way I learned
29:24to be a doctor came from two sources,
29:26my father and Yale,
29:29New Haven Hospital,
29:31which didn't allow me to cut any quarters.
29:34And if I did, believe me,
29:36we didn't do it a second time.
29:39So I want to thank both Doctor Lucy
29:41and Doctor Tavarreau for helping us do
29:44such great work at the medical school.
29:46And I think we have a few minutes left
29:49for actually more than a few minutes for Q&amp;A.
29:52Unless I'm forgetting to do something.
29:56So if you can ask your questions
30:00by raising your hands on Zoom,
30:03And I think because I'm so
30:05technically incompetent,
30:05I'm just going to let Amanda
30:08actually call on you in turn.
30:14Yeah, please feel free to use the
30:16raise hand function or you can
30:18pop your question in the chat.
30:19As I mentioned at the beginning,
30:21it's it's really nice if you're
30:23comfortable to have your camera
30:24off and ask a question to
30:26help with the conversation.
30:27But please feel free.
30:28The raise hand function,
30:30as I mentioned,
30:31is at the bottom of your screen
30:36under reactions.
30:38You should be able to find it there,
30:41or feel free to unmute and you
30:42can go ahead and ask your question
30:44now if if you'd like as well.
30:51Well, go ahead.
30:54That's one question. They with respect
30:58to students who are struggling
31:04without knowledge of resources.
31:07Is there a a program set up where a
31:12student in bad straights can be advised
31:18either within the Medical Center,
31:20outside of it how to get support?
31:22I'll give you an example.
31:25I had an interaction in the
31:27last year with a student who
31:30had some major dental problems,
31:34and when we discussed it he indicated
31:39he had no idea how to get care
31:43since he could not afford it,
31:45which appalled me.
31:48But it happened at a time when
31:51nobody that he had presented his
31:54problem to was aware, for example,
31:56that we had a dental clinic at Yelling
32:00Haven Hospital and a dental residency.
32:03And I thought to myself,
32:04who does he talk to?
32:06And I think Jesse had,
32:09I I would ask you,
32:12are there faculty members or
32:15members of your staff that are close
32:18enough to the students to be able
32:21to identify problems like that?
32:25Yes, I think it's really
32:28important to know that the
32:31student emergency fund which in
32:34part was funded by alums and and
32:39Doctor Tavro himself is accessible
32:42to all students who are experiencing
32:45need like you're describing.
32:47And the our Dean of students,
32:51John Francis Dean Vasquez who is
32:54our Dean of Student Diversity as
32:57well as Dean Mendt and missions
32:59and financial aid are all aware
33:02of this and able to help students
33:05access that fund when needed.
33:08Each student also has an advisor
33:10and now with our new coaching
33:13program they will have a coach as
33:15well who who students can share
33:16these types of needs with.
33:18So I I think we're going to see
33:20students perhaps coming forward
33:23more easily because they have so
33:26many ways to access this funding.
33:28But it has been used for dental
33:31procedures for emergency travel when if
33:33somebody has a sick family member or
33:36there's been a death in their family.
33:38And over the past year,
33:40we have used the student emergency
33:43fund to support students experiencing
33:46food insecurity.
33:47And that's been something that is very
33:50important to us and to our students.
33:55I will just add before.
33:57Oh, sorry, go ahead, Peter.
33:58Yeah. And I take it they're made aware
34:01of these resources. Are they, Jessica?
34:04Yes, yes. And I, you know,
34:07I think that before COVID,
34:09I don't think a lot of these
34:12things were posted on our websites.
34:14I think that and not that it
34:16has anything to do with COVID,
34:18but I feel like the team that really
34:20was optimizing the use of technology
34:23at the School of Medicine such as Zoom,
34:25also then went through all of
34:28our websites and realized how
34:30much was not listed there.
34:32So now the Student Emergency
34:34Fund is listed on the Diversity,
34:37Inclusion and Community Engagement
34:39and Active Equity website,
34:41which resides here in Harkness,
34:43the building where the students
34:45interface with medical administration
34:47and it's also listed on student affairs.
34:50It's talked about in the orientations
34:54and we have a number of student
34:56affinity groups as well who meet
34:59and and meet with our Dean for
35:01student Diversity to talk about all
35:03the resources that are available.
35:07And I'll add that you know under the alumni
35:10fund there are several designations as
35:11many of you know that you can choose from.
35:14And this is one of those designations.
35:15And I was just working with our finance
35:18office over the past couple days around this.
35:21And I'll add on to Dina Luzi's comments
35:24that you know when this was added to
35:28the alumni fund designation three years
35:30ago that first year we saw about $10,000
35:33worth of usage and in this last year,
35:35so just three years later,
35:37we've had over $42,000 worth of need
35:39being served to our students in that.
35:42So that really speaks to the need in
35:46this space. And I, we got some hands up.
35:49So thank you for your questions.
35:51I will start with you Harold.
35:52Yeah. Well, actually IA,
35:54couple of questions and Jessica
35:56answered One, I want to know
35:58what was happening with the
36:00The Hunger need program.
36:02So that's going good. And
36:05I have to say I'm really
36:07impressed with what you've done in
36:10preserving and maintaining the L system.
36:12And my other question,
36:14my question is, I just wanted to
36:16clarify for everyone,
36:18I think I'm correct that the
36:20giving year ends June 30th,
36:22not December 31st. Yes,
36:26that is correct. For tax purposes,
36:29a lot of people consider the
36:31giving through the calendar year,
36:32but our fiscal year ends June 30th,
36:35correct? Yeah,
36:36'cause that's that's the year that
36:38counts towards your reunion year,
36:42right? But the challenge
36:43that Doctor Tabro was talking
36:45about will end December 31st for
36:48calendar year end. It will. OK.
36:55All right, Christine. Hi.
36:58Thank you all for all the work you do.
37:01I was just wondering,
37:03are the residents made aware of the
37:06fact that they are automatically
37:08members of the Ayam and that
37:11they're eligible to be officers
37:13to be on the executive committee?
37:16Are they made aware of that?
37:19That is a great question, Christine.
37:20And if I may and can I call on
37:22you as our Director of Alumni
37:24Engagement to give a a brief update
37:26for Christine and others around
37:27where things are sitting there?
37:29Sure.
37:29We, we currently
37:31have been meeting with the chairs
37:33and the program directors for the
37:36different programs to sort of get a
37:38handle on the database and actually
37:39putting those people into Hopper,
37:41which is our database that
37:43we use for alumni affairs.
37:45I've been sort of informally calling
37:47people and writing people to let
37:48them know that they're alums.
37:50Some people know, some people don't,
37:51but it's a lot of excitement and energy
37:54from former alums who are fellows or
37:57residents at Yale and Yale affiliate
38:00hospitals about this opportunity.
38:02We are currently working with the team
38:04to also do a mailing early this year,
38:07year, next year, I should say 2024.
38:09So everyone's going to be basically informed
38:12that they now have these privileges,
38:14privileges and are part of Ayam are
38:17going to be getting a new updated
38:19alumni brochure that's going to
38:21be in print as well as digital.
38:23And we have about,
38:24I think about 2000 more people
38:26that were adding to the database,
38:28about 5000 residents and fellows
38:30have already been entered.
38:32So that work is actively in in
38:34progress and we should be hitting
38:362024 running and getting those
38:38people incorporated into the system.
38:41Thank you. Thanks a lot.
38:43And I do want to give a a shout out for
38:45Doctor Tabarro because he has been very
38:47instrumental in working and helping push
38:49that initiative as a a former resident alum.
38:52So you know in addition to his
38:54support of the alumni fund,
38:56he's really been an an advocate as it's
38:57we've been working to get this accomplished.
39:00So thank you again for that,
39:01Doctor Tabarro. I would love to,
39:03I would love to see more residents on
39:07the executive committee and I think it
39:10would just add a huge new dimension.
39:13We still have to do a lot
39:16of recruiting though.
39:17Thank you, Anne.
39:20Richard,
39:22Hello, thanks very much.
39:25And I wanted to quickly ask if we
39:29as agents could get a little bit of
39:31wording about this wonderful match
39:34that Paul has described to us so that
39:36we could sort of have something to,
39:40you know, speak directly to it when
39:42we write our little notes or call
39:45our call our designated students.
39:48The second thing is,
39:50I'm sure everybody has been aware
39:52of the mental health issues that
39:55have been going on for students and
39:58student involvement in in obtaining
40:01increased mental health assistance both
40:04within the colleges and the school,
40:07and if so, for those who have to leave
40:09school for one reason or another.
40:13One thing that was mentioned
40:15in the college aspect of was
40:18that the individual colleges,
40:21Pearson TD and whatnot.
40:24Could be a source for the sort of
40:27individual counseling and more sort
40:29of private type of conversation
40:31that needs to go on for people
40:33having difficulties what what is
40:36the planned or thought about for
40:38the medical school and particularly
40:41with the initiation of the colleges
40:44being able to you know incorporate
40:47these these needs into the the
40:50individual levels of our students.
40:54I can comment on that two.
40:57About two years ago we had a group
41:00of students come forward to speak
41:03with the Dean talking about the
41:06challenges in getting access to timely
41:09mental health care at Yale Health.
41:13I think what was happening at Yale
41:15Health and across the country at other
41:18schools is that there was a much more,
41:21a much larger demand for mental health
41:24care than many of the University
41:27Health services were able to meet.
41:29And so the Dean actually put together
41:32a group to put together that designed
41:36a new student mental health and
41:39Wellness program at Yale School of
41:42Medicine and it is now fully funded.
41:45We have a licensed clinical social worker,
41:49a clinical psychologist and a Wellness
41:53counselor that are dedicated to the
41:56students at the Yale School of Medicine.
41:58And so now students are able to get
42:01same day appointments when needed
42:03for counseling if they and they can
42:06continue to see these individuals you
42:09know for six times and then if they need
42:13longer care they get an easy referral
42:15to Yale Health because the the service
42:18acts as a referral entity as well.
42:21The other thing I'd point out
42:22is that they've developed a lot
42:25of Wellness programming that is
42:27essentially Co curricular.
42:29So it's helping support our students
42:31in the pre clerkship period.
42:32For example,
42:33when they're going through anatomy,
42:35the counselors come to meet students after
42:39the anatomy lab to have sessions to debrief.
42:43And then during clerkships,
42:45when things can become even, you know,
42:48stressful in a different way,
42:50there are sessions that they help
42:52hold with those students.
42:53And then again in preparing
42:55for applying to residency.
42:56So, you know,
42:59this was something that the LCME
43:01accrediting body wanted to hear about.
43:03And I know that many other schools
43:05are struggling to meet these needs.
43:06And I'm really proud that, you know,
43:09when we first did the survey,
43:11we had over 50% of students saying
43:14they were dissatisfied with the
43:16services provided at the School
43:17of Medicine two years ago.
43:19And now over 96% of students
43:22are reporting that they are
43:25satisfied or highly satisfied.
43:27It's something that I don't think any
43:29other medical school has yet accomplished.
43:31So it's something that we're really proud of.
43:34That sounds great. I'm sure Al,
43:36while is happy to hear that too,
43:38because as you know,
43:39our class had a particular experience
43:42with this 50 years ago and have sort
43:44of been tuned to this over the years.
43:47So thank you very much.
43:54And Richard, I'll add that you
43:55know Bridget is going to give
43:57a a brief update for the class
43:58agents right after this, but we'll
44:00absolutely have language to support
44:02you for outreach. Great. Thank you.
44:13Other questions.
44:22I have a question. Yes,
44:26go ahead. The questions
44:29about the Yale Journal
44:30of Biology and Medicine,
44:32is that part of the same philanthropic
44:38group that you're overseeing?
44:41Or when they reach out to us is,
44:44is that sort of a very separate entity?
44:47Is it under your umbrella?
44:49It is under medical education.
44:52The yes, and the Yale Journal for Biology
44:55and Medicine I would like to share has had
44:58an enormous increase in its readership.
45:01So, you know, back 30-40 years ago it
45:04was a printed version of the journal
45:06and so therefore had limited access.
45:09But now that it's published online and
45:12people can access it from all over the world,
45:16we get hundreds of thousands of
45:19people reading the articles that
45:22our students are publishing.
45:24And as you know,
45:25the students are the editors,
45:26not necessarily the writers.
45:28So we're getting submissions from
45:30all over the world and then we
45:32are publishing on different topics
45:34and our journal has actually had
45:36an increasing impact factor,
45:42which we are, we are all amazed by.
45:45It's such a great experience for our
45:47students to be able to kind of learn
45:49how articles are reviewed and published
45:51and determine whether or not the
45:54appropriate methods were used. You know
45:55it's it's a really great
45:57experience for the students.
46:00That's great. Thank you. May may I
46:03ask one other unrelated question
46:06that is if you could share with us
46:12approximately the number of students
46:17going into what some would consider to
46:21be a primary care training program.
46:23And I know that all internal medicine
46:26programs count as that and and most
46:28people training and I am do not
46:29go into primary care but I just.
46:31I just wonder how we're doing
46:33on on that front.
46:35I'm often asked that by
46:38classmates of of mine.
46:39So I just want to have an
46:41answer for them and you answer
46:43thank you. Yes. I
46:45don't have the exact numbers in front of me,
46:48but it it it's about 10% which I is
46:53much lower than other medical schools.
46:57The the school has, you know,
47:00acknowledged that this is lower
47:02than other medical schools and is
47:07kind of in the middle of debating
47:08whether or not we should try
47:10to change our focus here.
47:11I think what's happening in in
47:14that we have a required thesis,
47:17many students come here interested
47:19in becoming physician scientists
47:22and end up pursuing those
47:24paths toward academic medicine.
47:26But I think what we're trying to
47:28do is to point out that one can
47:32still pursue scholarship in academic
47:34medicine from a primary care
47:37vantage point like HealthEquity and
47:39really addressing the needs of our
47:42population in the United States.
47:44So I I think we're probably going
47:46to see that number increasing our
47:48our Department of General Internal
47:51Medicine has been increasing and
47:53producing more and more scholarship
47:55that's having an impact on the field.
48:00Yes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
48:23I know in my presentation I was
48:25only able to cover some of the
48:28items that we're very excited about.
48:30But if there are a couple minutes,
48:32I want to point out a few other
48:35things that we've been doing.
48:36One of them is to improve,
48:39as you saw with the slides,
48:41the teaching of anatomy really bringing
48:45technology into the classroom.
48:47The other thing though is that we're
48:50trying to improve the teaching of of
48:52anatomy across the whole four years.
48:54We were recently able to recruit new
48:57faculty from the departments of Pathology,
49:01Radiologic imaging and surgery to
49:04become associate course directors in
49:06anatomy so that students can learn
49:09about how anatomy is applied early on
49:12and begin to potentially even think
49:15about surgical careers for example.
49:18And then when the they go through
49:21their clerkships and they emerge
49:23out of the clerkships,
49:24we've created a new advanced
49:27surgical anatomy course.
49:29And that course was was funded by
49:34a generous donor who may or may not
49:38be on this call.
49:41But I understand that he'd been
49:44thinking about potentially
49:47asking his classmates to match
49:50funding to help us expand that.
49:53So we we we did the advanced surgical
49:56anatomy elective last year and
49:59held it for eight students with
50:01many surgical faculty involved.
50:03And so this is going back to the anatomy lab,
50:06working with cadavers, dissecting,
50:11you know, specimens like calf,
50:12calf hearts and such.
50:14Learning, learning some really
50:16advanced procedural skills.
50:18And we'd like to be able to offer that
50:22to more students and encourage more
50:25students to consider how anatomy can
50:27be applied in their future careers.
50:33Amanda, I didn't know if I was
50:34allowed to say his name. So
50:40no, I I appreciate you highlighting
50:41that because it again speaks to
50:43the impact of of our alumni and
50:45their philanthropy. So thank you.
50:47I know that was a very exciting
50:49thing this past year in in anatomy.
50:53Well thank you all so much for your
50:55time tonight. And class agents,
50:57we, we encourage you to stay
50:59behind for a very brief update and
51:01specifically directed for that.
51:04And we really applaud everybody
51:07for their generosity both of
51:09time and also financially.
51:13And thank you so much.
51:17Thank you so much.