Yale Launches New Street Medicine Training Program for Residents

Homelessness in the United States has reached record levels, with more than 770,000 people living without stable housing on any given night. Yet many physicians receive limited training in how to best manage the complex health and social needs of this population.

People experiencing homelessness face unique challenges, says Jeffrey Lin, MD, MPH, instructor of medicine (general medicine) at Yale School of Medicine (YSM). “When even basic needs like food, water, and shelter are missing, how do we expect patients to deal with chronic medical conditions, complex psychiatric histories, physical disability, or possible substance use?” he says.

Building on existing street medicine and outreach efforts in New Haven, a new YSM training initiative will expand resident education in caring for people experiencing homelessness, preparing future primary care physicians to deliver consistent, preventive care directly to these patients on the street.

This initiative, titled the Yale Street Medicine Training Program, will be co-led by Lin and Benjamin Howell, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine (general medicine) at YSM. The program will be offered to residents in the Yale Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program and feature more than two months of dedicated street medicine training.

“For years, the street medicine providers of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center have hosted rotating Yale primary care, traditional internal medicine, and medicine-pediatrics residents for two weeks at a time to allow them to see firsthand the challenges of caring for people experiencing homelessness,” Howell says. “By offering more than two months of experiential training, this new curriculum will provide our residents with the skills to become experts in providing primary care to this population after graduation.”

The opportunity to improve resident training was recognized by former YSM faculty member Christine Krueger, MD, who spearheaded an application for a competitive grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to support the development of the program.

As part of this work, Lin and Howell will partner with faculty across YSM as well as a range of university and community organizations. Clinical collaborations include the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center’s Street Medicine team, the Yale Street Psychiatry program, and the VA’s Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team clinic, each offering residents firsthand experience in models of care that reach patients where they are. The curriculum also works closely with the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy, whose medical-legal partnerships help residents understand how legal advocacy intersects with health. Community organizations such as the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Community Health Care Van, and U-ACT further ground the curriculum in lived experience.

“The strength of this initiative lies in its collaborative foundation,” says Howell. “Together, these partnerships ensure residents gain a holistic, interprofessional, and justice-oriented education, while patients benefit from care that is more coordinated, accessible, and responsive to their realities.”

According to Brad Richards, MD, MBA, associate professor of medicine (general medicine) and executive director of the Yale Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program, the new initiative represents both an investment in resident education and a commitment to community health.

“Our goal is that graduates of the Yale Street Medicine Training Program will go on to lead similar efforts in their own communities, strengthening the pipeline of physicians dedicated to advancing health equity,” he says. “At the same time, we hope to create more consistent access to high-quality, compassionate primary care for our patients and community partners—care that, over time, can build trust, reduce reliance on crisis services, and improve health outcomes in New Haven’s unhoused community.”

The Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine is among the nation's premier departments, bringing together an elite cadre of clinicians, investigators, educators, and staff in one of the world's top medical schools.