Clinical Experience in Early Didactic (CEED)

The Clinical Experience in Early Didactic (CEED) provides first year students in the Yale PA Online Program with 120+ hours of direct patient care experience in the didactic year.

CEED enables students to apply their didactic learning in a clinical setting and gain experience with responsibilities including physical exams, history taking, presenting to preceptors and reviewing diagnostic tests. This opportunity for hands-on training enhances the students’ abilities before beginning their clinical year.

To achieve the outcomes of the experience, CEED incorporates four areas that are in alignment with the program goals:

1. Clinical Mentor and You
   With each experience, you will work with a clinical mentor who will help you continue to develop your knowledge and skills in a clinical setting.
2. The Team and You
   In the clinical setting, you will work side-by-side with other health care professionals, such as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, medical assistants and physical therapists. By working as part of a health care team, you will learn about the various roles of the different health care providers and members of the office staff.
3. The Patients and You
   You will work at clinical sites that may offer the opportunity to follow the same patients over time. You will be encouraged to take part in as many patient encounters as possible.
4. The Health Care System and You
   You will be encouraged to apply the knowledge learned in the Preparing Future PAs course to the clinical setting. You will observe how the various team members interact with the health care system.

In the didactic year, students begin their CEED experience at a health care facility vetted and approved by Yale faculty. Until the conclusion of the didactic year in December, students spend four to six hours per week with a preceptor in a health care clinic in their community. The clinical settings include primary care, family medicine, internal medicine and urgent care. The preceptors, who are also selected and approved by the Yale team, supervise and mentor the students.