Where Community and Academic Medicine Meet

For Adam Mayerson, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine (endocrinology) at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), the most meaningful work happens between institutions. Over more than two decades, he has built a career connecting community-based care with academic medicine — serving as managing partner of Endocrine Associates of Connecticut, associate chief of medicine for community and voluntary faculty at Yale New Haven Hospital, and a longtime educator in the Yale Fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Across these roles, his focus has remained consistent: creating systems that support clinicians, strengthen training, and ensure seamless patient care across settings.

A Yale-trained endocrinologist whose career has been shaped by mentorship and sustained collaboration, Mayerson now helps steward one of the Department of Internal Medicine’s most essential but often unseen assets — its voluntary faculty.

We spoke with Mayerson about building bridges between community and academic medicine, the importance of voluntary faculty to Yale’s mission, and the leadership philosophy that guides his work.

I see myself as a connector. I trained at Yale, stayed in the New Haven community to build a clinical practice, and maintained close ties to the Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism throughout my career. That combination allows me to sit at the intersection of YSM, the hospital, and community physicians. It’s a unique vantage point, and it gives me the opportunity to help those groups work together in ways that are mutually beneficial — and ultimately better for patients and trainees.

Voluntary faculty are essential because they bring trainees into real-world clinical environments. Many practice outside the hospital and are deeply embedded in their communities, which gives learners a different perspective on patient care than they would get in an academic center. At the same time, the voluntary faculty stay connected to Yale through teaching, mentorship, and professional development. In an era when many community physicians rarely come into the hospital, this model preserves those relationships and keeps the medical school closely linked to the communities it serves.

Endocrine Associates is a community-based endocrinology practice affiliated with Yale, and many of its physicians, including myself, completed both residency and fellowship training here. The partnership works because it’s collaborative rather than competitive. I am very fortunate to have built this foundation with Section Chief John Wysolmerski, MD, and Clinical Chief Silvio Inzucchi, MD, of Endocrinology and Metabolism— fantastic leaders and early mentors of mine. We share complex patients with full-time faculty, coordinate inpatient coverage across campuses, and communicate in real time through a shared electronic medical record. Patients experience continuity no matter where they receive care, and fellows are exposed to a broader range of clinical complexity. That kind of integration doesn’t happen overnight — it’s built on trust, shared training backgrounds, and a common commitment to patient-centered care.

I believe strongly in servant leadership. That means listening carefully to the people doing the work, staying close to the challenges they face, and letting patient care guide decisions. In medicine, it’s easy for hierarchy to get in the way of communication. The most effective leaders are the ones who remain accessible, curious, and grounded in the day-to-day realities of clinical care.

Endocrinology and Metabolism, one of 10 sections in the Yale Department of Internal Medicine, improves the health of individuals with endocrine and metabolic diseases by advancing scientific knowledge, applying new information to patient care, and training the next generation of physicians and scientists to become leaders in the field. To learn more, visit Endocrinology and Metabolism.