Fostering Collaborative Excellence

The Yale School of Medicine Physician Assistant Online and Physician Associate Programs foster diversity of perspectives and experiences and an inclusive environment by continuously engaging in outreach, engagement, education, reflection, and advocacy for the benefit of the communities in which we learn, work, and serve.

PA Online Program students and faculty are offered opportunities to learn about bias, discrimination, (dis)abilities, and person-centered health care needs, among many other topics.

Each incoming cohort elects a student chair of collaborative excellence to the James Van Rhee Student Society during the didactic phase. The student chair of collaborative excellence works with the director of student affairs to identify new opportunities for enhancing the student experience of the curriculum and climate within that cohort.

A tradition that began with the program’s first cohort is for the first synchronous session of the term to be a medical humanities discussion. Books explored have included:

• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Fadiman, A. (1998)
• When Breath Becomes Air. Kalanithi, P. (2017)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot, R. (2018)
• And the Band Played On. Shilts, R. (1987)
• Hidden Mercy. O’Loughlin, M. (2021)

During the core and elective rotations within the clinical phase, students are further prepared to care for patients with consideration for race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion/spirituality, (dis)ability, and other individual patient characteristics.