Fellowship Training

The Yale University fellowship training program in rheumatology, allergy and clinical immunology is committed to developing academic and clinical leaders. Fellows will master the tools necessary to remain at the forefront of these disciplines, with knowledge, skill, and professionalism. They will be prepared for careers as physician scientists pursuing clinical, translational or basic science investigation, and/or as master clinicians and educators in rheumatology, allergy and immunology.

Our program has a rich history in training leaders in clinical medicine and outstanding scientists (in laboratory, translational, and patient-focused research) for over 45 years. Many former trainees are now members of the Yale faculty or faculty members at other academic institutions. These include a university president, several division directors in the U.S. and Canada, and two investigators of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Together with Drs. Betty Hsiao, Associate Program Director, and Richard Bucala, Chief of the Section, we oversee the implementation of our clinical training program, alongside a large cadre of full-time faculty and clinical faculty in rheumatology.

The fellowship training program is designed to prepare postdoctoral trainees for careers in academic rheumatology in the outstanding educational environment offered by Yale University and the Yale School of Medicine. We offer a traditional fellowship for physicians that includes clinical training and two or more years of clinical, translational, and/or laboratory research. The program emphasizes career development and qualified fellows may also apply for advanced training through the Yale Investigative Medicine Ph.D. Program, the National Clinical Scholars Program, the Yale Master of Health Science Program, or through the Yale School of Public Health. We also offer research fellowships in immunobiology, inflammation, and related disciplines for individuals with Ph.D. degrees. Research training for both M.D. and Ph.D. fellows is supported in part by a training grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Our Clinical Training Program offers an exposure to a wide variety of inflammatory rheumatic diseases in the inpatient setting through the rheumatology consult service at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), a 1541-bed tertiary teaching hospital in New Haven, and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven Campus, closely adjacent to Yale-New Haven Hospital. Outpatient clinics at the YNHH and Saint Raphael campuses, the North Haven Interventional Immunology Center, the Cornell-Scott Hill Health Center, a community health center in New Haven, and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven Campus, offer a rich and varied patient care experience, exposing trainees to the full spectrum of rheumatic conditions. The VA clinics are conducted in concert with orthopedics and physiatry, providing comprehensive training in musculoskeletal medicine in a multi-disciplinary setting, along with training in musculoskeletal ultrasound. Weekly clinical conferences at the VA focus on osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal conditions, clinical research methodology, and radiology while the weekly conferences at the Yale-New Haven campus emphasize the pathophysiology and management of complex autoimmune conditions.

Research Training is overseen by individual mentors from the clinical and basic science faculty at the School of Medicine and the Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Each fellow is also assigned a mentoring committee. A list of potential research mentors is available, although fellows can elect to do research projects with any qualified faculty member at Yale.

Our program participates in the Rheumatology Match for M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. trainees. Interested candidates can apply using the universal application available through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Applicants with a Ph.D. degree should contact Dr. Bucala or any of the above-noted faculty in rheumatology.

We welcome any questions you may have regarding clinical or scientific training at Yale!