On Friday morning May 30, 2025, after we picked up our ID badges, t-shirts, and class pictures, we selected our tours from a list that included the Yale School of Medicine (YSM), the Center for Healthcare Simulation, the Clinical Skills Program, BrainWorks, and the entire Yale campus. I found the Simulation Lab to be one of the most interesting, as we observed students questioning a critically ill manikin. After removing all metal from our pockets to enter the BrainWorks lab, we watched a human brain processing thought. The alumni staff were amazing at getting us to the appropriate sites, even if we walked slowly or needed a wheelchair.
At the evening Clam Bake buffet, held in a tent on the Harkness lawn, we moved down the line to receive an ear of corn, a hunk of steak, a pail full of mussels and clams, and coleslaw. At the end of the line, a whole lobster was lifted from a tub of boiling water and placed on top of it all. Servers helped some of us maneuver our loaded plates to our class tables and generously replenished our drinks. After the meal—and several pounds heavier—some classmates searched for their old rooms in Harkness but found only administrative offices. Students now live in a nearby apartment building.
On Saturday, after a continental breakfast in the Analyn Center, Nancy J. Brown, MD, the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine addressed the state of the school and its response to the current political situation. As deans have done in the past, Dean Brown mused that among the more than 4,000 applicants for this year’s incoming class, she herself might not have been accepted. She answered questions about the financial and grant status of YSM and how the school manages diverse student viewpoints. I learned that the Alumni Fund has helped most students graduate with less than $10,000 in debt. Seventy percent of students choose to take a fifth, or “flex,” year. More than 80 percent have published research by the time they graduate. Notably, 45 percent of our class has donated a total of $100,495 since the 2020 Reunion—thank you!
Mark L. Meyer, MD ’94, JD ’98, and Dora-Linda Wang, MD ’90, received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. A panel comprising two faculty members—Sarwat Chaudry, associate dean for student research, and John Francis, associate dean for student affairs—along with two medical students, Katrine Madsen ’26 (candidate) and Morgan Brinker ’27 (candidate), shared their experiences as medical students. Under the current “Yale System,” the policy of no graded examinations remains in effect. Tests are conducted anonymously and are not used to grade or stratify students. National Boards, Parts 1 and 2, are still required.
After a BBQ lunch in the tent, more tours were offered to the Anatomy Lab and around the Yale campus.
Our class dinner took place at the Elm City Club on Elm Street, near the New Haven Green, with four other classes (1960, 1970, 1975, and 2000) in adjacent rooms. Dean Brown visited all five rooms with the ubiquitous photographer, Harold Shapiro. Jim Gude honored our deceased classmates (24 known, out of our freshman class of 78, of whom five were women) and read excerpts from the poem Ithaka by Constantine Cavafy, translated by Edmund Keeley.
After dinner, we passed the microphone around our three tables. Carl Hunt shared stories from classmates who couldn’t attend (including one who had six wives). Carl Ellenberger narrated his transformation from academic neuro-ophthalmologist to community neurologist, and ultimately to Director of the first MRI center in his county. He also shamelessly promoted his two books: Theme and Variations: Musical Notes by a Neurologist (2018) and Mozart in the Woods: Gretna Music’s 50 Years (2025), about the summer festival he founded. Phil Askenase recounted some of the jokes he told at our class show. Bob and Mary Pickens celebrated the 60th anniversary of their wedding in the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library (formerly the Beaumont Room), where a harpsichord accompanied Carl Ellenberger’s flute on the balcony. John Coyle moved everyone by describing his work with prisoners in California. Dot (Dorothy) Hull asked us to share how we each came to practice our specialties.
After everyone shared memories, we were the last class to leave the Elm City Club at the end of a very fine 60th YSM Reunion. The weather was beautiful throughout the weekend, despite forecasts of rain.
The experience was emotional for us. Time had strengthened the bonds among the twelve classmates who attended. The need to hear about each other’s lives during that time was strong. In one sense, we were survivors. Many of us resolved to maintain closer contact with one another before our next reunion—the 65th—and with the classmates who couldn’t attend this one.
In attendance:
Phil Askenase; David Campbell with Diane Miller; John Coyle with Susan; Carl Ellenberger with Emi; Jim Gude; Reid Heffner with Elle; Dave Hill; Edgar Hull with Dot; Carl Hunt; Ron Karpick with Jane; Bob Pickens with Mary; Marty Stein with Jenny
— Submitted by Carl Ellenberger, Reid Heffner and Ron Karpick