Educational Offerings

Workshops are open to any groups who work together. We recommend that organizers utilize or extend existing meeting times, such as regular meetings of departments, student or faculty engagement groups, clinical teams, or lab teams.

These educational offerings provide tools to create a more inclusive workplace and educational environment using active learning methods. They offer the space for dialogue about how groups can develop productive norms and how to make all voices welcome in the workplace and educational environment.

We offer education for teams or work units, not individuals. All classes will be tailored to the group’s needs. Most classes can be done in-person or over Zoom. Sessions are led by Carli Gaughf, Collaborative Excellence Associate Director of Education and Training. Fill out this form to request educational sessions for your team.

In both academic and healthcare settings, workplace conversations can become uncomfortable—whether they involve direct communication about conflicting viewpoints or engaging with people across differences. One effective strategy in these moments is to ask constructive questions—an approach that can defuse conflict, build trust, and reduce defensiveness. In this skills-based session, learners will build self-awareness of their stress responses, practice evidence-informed dialogue tools, and apply them to realistic scenarios through guided role-play and structured reflection.

• Audience: Faculty and staff
• Format: In-person or Zoom. 60 – 90 minutes
• Ideal size: 10 – 100 participants

This interactive workshop introduces the principles of Calling In, a framework for addressing unprofessional behavior in the workplace by inviting others into a conversation with a focus on shared values. Anyone can learn to use this framework to transform frustrating and divisive conflicts that stand in the way of real connection with the people, whether at work, in the classroom, or the clinical setting.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person or Zoom. 60 – 90 minutes
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 300 participants

This follow-up offers groups a space to practice the skills learned in Part 1 through realistic, real-life scenarios—building confidence and creating openings for deeper, more meaningful dialogue.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM who has completed Part 1
  
• Format: In-person or Zoom. 60 – 90 minutes
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 30 participants

Are you scared to share your views with someone who might disagree with you? Having conversations across differences is more difficult now than ever. And yet we know that we benefit from working and learning alongside people who are different than us. This workshop is an opportunity to engage in dialogue with colleagues in small groups. Think of it as a gym for conversation muscles you didn’t know you had.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person or Zoom. 60 – 90 minutes
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 50 participants

This interactive workshop provides tools for creating an environment that is psychologically safe and respectful of different lived experiences and perspectives.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person or Zoom. 60 – 90 minutes
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 100 participants

This is a highly interactive practical workshop for groups to rehearse intervention techniques for disrupting inappropriate behavior, whether in the clinical space, lab, work environment, or classroom. We will use roleplay to practice these skills while working through scenarios provided by the group.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person. 60 – 90 minutes
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 30 participants

This tailor-made workshop is for teams who want to explore ways to build trust, enhance communication, and engage effectively as a team through creative means. Activities are chosen to meet the specific goals and needs of the group. Examples of goals in addition to team building might be increasing direct communication, identifying shared values, and problem solving.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person. 1 – 8 hours
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 50 participants

This workshop uses a theatre-based methodology to give participants the opportunity to rehearse interventions that can be used during difficult encounters, conversations, and conflict. The playfulness of theater opens the door for participants to creatively explore possible solutions to scenarios of unprofessional behavior. Can be tailored to various scenarios that a group wants to work through with colleagues, students, trainees, or patients.

• Audience: Everyone at YSM
  
• Format: In-person. 1 – 4 hours
  
• Ideal size: 10 – 30 participants

In addition, topics can be taught by request or in consultation with the Associate Director.

Fill out this form to request educational sessions for your team.

Our programs are open to all members of the Yale School of Medicine community and participation is voluntary. We welcome engagement from students, staff, and faculty from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives.

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