Dana Dunne Retires After Decades of Leadership in Medical Education

Dana Dunne, MD, MHS, professor of medicine (infectious diseases), will retire on June 30 and transition to professor emeritus status, concluding a career defined by decades of leadership in infectious disease work, medical education, and mentorship at Yale School of Medicine (YSM).

During her time at Yale, Dunne has held numerous leadership roles spanning undergraduate and graduate medical education. Through these roles, she has helped shape the educational experiences of generations of medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty members. She has also fostered a culture of mentorship, professional development, and psychological safety across the institution.

Dunne first joined Yale in 1986, where she completed her internal medicine residency, chief year, and infectious diseases fellowship. After training, she entered private infectious disease practice at the Hospital of Saint Raphael. Then, after having three children, including one with special needs, she took a part-time job at the City of New Haven Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clinic, where she became immersed in STI diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

“The clinic was great learning,” Dunne recalls. “We were doing our own Gram stains and wet mounts and managing almost every aspect of patient care.”

Over the next decade, Dunne established herself as an STI expert while balancing family responsibilities. After years away from academic medicine, she found herself considering what the next phase of her career might look like.

A major turning point came in 2009, when YSM's Infectious Diseases section chief reached out to Dunne and identified an NIH biomedical reentry grant designed to help researchers resume academic careers after prolonged absences.

“The grant was mostly designed for people who had only been away for a couple of years, but I was miraculously funded,” Dunne says. “After 17 years away, I felt I was coming back as the oldest assistant professor around.”

Building on her longstanding interest in sexually transmitted infections, Dunne returned to Yale to study syphilis pathogenesis, working with Erol Fikrig, MD, Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), to develop an animal model to better understand the disease.

“The grant really served its purpose,” she says. “It got me back in.”

Though she had returned to Yale through research, educational leadership roles ultimately defined the next chapter of Dunne’s career.

“I always liked teaching,” Dunne says. “Even when I wasn't in academic medicine, I was still keeping my hands in teaching.”

In 2011, Dunne was appointed clerkship director for internal medicine and associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. In these roles, she guided medical students and residents through pivotal stages of their professional development.

“Working with the medical students as clerkship director was very meaningful,” Dunne says. “It’s such a formative time, and seeing students get excited—whether it was hearing a murmur for the first time or putting everything together for a diagnosis—was really special.”

Dunne's approach to education centers on creating an environment where learners feel supported and empowered to grow.

“Psychological safety is number one,” Dunne says. “I try to flatten the hierarchy and make it a partnership. I want learners to feel comfortable asking questions and focus on getting better, not worrying about how they'll be judged.”

Over the years, Dunne assumed increasingly prominent leadership roles in medical education, ultimately serving as associate chair for education and academic affairs in the Department of Internal Medicine, associate designated institutional official and director of educator development for graduate medical education, associate in the Center for Medical Education, and founding director of the YSM Longitudinal Coaching Program.

Vincent Quagliarello, MD, professor of medicine (infectious diseases) and vice chair for education and academic affairs in the Department of Internal Medicine, says Dunne's dedication to teaching and mentorship has made her a beloved figure within the medical education community.

“Dana has long served as a role model clinician and educator in sexually transmitted infections,” Quagliarello says. “However, her impact extends far beyond that—she has been an exemplary force at Yale, fostering the development of trainees and faculty at multiple levels and helping shape a culture that values teaching and mentorship.”

Among the accomplishments Dunne is most proud of is helping expand educator development at YSM. Working closely with Janet Hafler, EdD, professor of pediatrics and director of the Center for Medical Education, and Stephen Huot, MD, PhD, professor of medicine (nephrology) and senior associate dean for graduate medical education, Dunne has helped create opportunities for faculty, fellows, residents, and students to develop their teaching skills.

“We really had little for educators,” Dunne says. “People assumed that if you're a doctor, you know how to teach. But teaching is a skill, and like anything else, you can get better at it.”

After receiving specialized training in faculty development at Stanford University, Dunne helped expand educational programming focused on topics ranging from psychological safety and learning climate to effective feedback. These efforts contributed to the growth of programs supporting faculty, fellows, residents, and, more recently, a medical education concentration for students.

“A lot of our faculty really care about teaching,” Dunne says. “They just wanted better tools in their toolkit. To be part of helping our faculty become more effective educators has been very meaningful.”

Dunne also spearheaded the creation of YSM’s inaugural coaching program for medical students. Inspired by successful programs at peer institutions, Dunne helped design a system in which students could develop longitudinal relationships with faculty coaches who serve as trusted, non-evaluative partners throughout medical school.

The program was built around the idea that learners benefit from a private space to reflect, set goals, and navigate challenges while developing into self-directed physicians. Over time, the coaching program evolved through continual feedback from students and faculty and has become an integral part of the medical school experience.

“It was very much like building the airplane while we were flying it,” Dunne says. “There was a lot of trial and error, but it's been very rewarding to see the culture of coaching take hold.”

According to Huot, Dunne's influence has spanned the entire medical education continuum, helping transform the training of medical students, residents, and fellows.

“Dana has developed and led some of the most creative and effective educator development programs at Yale,” Huot says. “More importantly, she is a trusted colleague and friend who always finds time to listen, brainstorm, encourage, and support educators across our community.”

Hafler echoes this point, adding, “Dana is an exceptional educator and a generous colleague.

“She has always been deeply committed to developing herself as an educator and to supporting others as teachers, mentors, and coaches,” Hafler says. “Her impact on our medical education community has been tremendous, and generations of learners and educators have benefited from her guidance.”

After retiring, Dunne plans to remain involved in education and mentorship while embracing new opportunities beyond full-time academic leadership. She is pursuing certification as a professional coach and hopes to continue supporting faculty, residents, and learners through coaching and educator development. She also hopes to make more time for travel and personal pursuits, including learning the cello and singing choral music.

Though colleagues affectionately know her as the “queen of syphilis” and frequently turn to her for advice on sexually transmitted infections, Dunne hopes her lasting impact will extend far beyond infectious diseases.

“I hope part of my legacy is the expansion and valuing of educator development,” Dunne says. “The psychological safety part of that is something I really am passionate about.

“Whether you're teaching patients, students, or colleagues, creating psychological safety is always worth the effort,” she adds. “If there's something that can help someone improve, I think it's almost unethical not to tell them. We need to create environments where people feel safe enough to hear it.”

Looking back on her career, Dunne takes pride in the progress made toward building a more supportive and learner-centered culture.

“Organizational culture change is hard,” she says. “But maybe we moved the needle.”