ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway

The Department of Internal Medicine strongly encourages residents to consider academic careers in laboratory-based or patient-oriented research. Toward this end, our department encourages appropriate individuals to pursue the American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway. This pathway represents a “short track” into fellowship training as residents in this pathway complete only two rather than three clinical years of internal medicine residency. However, because this pathway requires three years of research training, it shortens training by a year only for those who plan to pursue intensive research training of this duration.

Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway (Physician Scientist Training Program; PSTP) with the Yale Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program involves “short tracking” into subspecialty training according the following sequence:

1. 24 months internal medicine residency training (including 20 months of direct patient responsibility).
2. 12-24 months subspecialty clinical training (in accord with clinical training requirements of respective subspecialties).
3. 36 months research training (at least 80% time commitment).
4. Ambulatory clinic during research training (10% effort, typically one half day per week).

Yale offers clinical and research training in all subspecialties of Internal Medicine. Subspecialty fellows may choose research mentors in the Department of Medicine or in a variety of other departments and programs involved in basic, translational and/or clinical research. These include Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Epidemiology and Public Health, Genetics, Immunobiology, Microbial Pathogenesis, Pathology, Pharmacology, Vascular Biology and Transplantation, and the Yale Cancer Center.

Many residents who pursue the ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway have already had extensive research training (e.g. graduates of M.D.-Ph.D. programs). However, the ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway is also appropriate for residents strongly committed to research careers who have not had extensive prior research training. For these individuals, enrollment in the Investigative Medicine Program during subspecialty fellowship training offers the opportunity to receive formal graduate training in laboratory-based or patient-oriented investigation leading to the Ph.D. degree.

Resident applicants offered admission into the Yale ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway will be guaranteed:

1. Admission to the subspecialty fellowship programs of their choice.
2. Guaranteed salary support for three years of research training.
3. Salary supplementation above the NIH scale during research training.

Final acceptance into the Yale ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway will be contingent on excellence of PGY1 performance.

To learn more about how to apply to our program, please see the application information below.

For those students who are committed to post-residency subspecialty fellowship training with a major focus on a research career, we encourage you to consider our ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway which we offer as a training program within our Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program.

We encourage applicants with strong commitments to research careers to apply to Yale Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program's ABIM Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway 2-year training program at the time of application (see table below).

In addition to submitting an application through ERAS, applicants for Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway should send an email to Dr. Silvia Vilarinho, director of Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway, and Tatianna Hilton, administrative assistant, with the following information:

1. Statement of interest in the Yale ABIM Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway.
2. Areas of possible subspecialty interest so that appropriate interviews with fellowship program(s) can be arranged at the time of residency interviews.
3. Names of Yale faculty identified as possible research mentors (not required).

Applicants will be considered for admission to Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway through the NRMP Match. Please note that the Yale Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program now has three (3) training programs listed on the NRMP website (see table below); a categorical 3-year training program, a Preliminary 1-year training program, and the ABIM Physician-Scientist 2-year training program.

All applicants to Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway will also be considered candidates for the Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program's categorical 3-year training program. If you would like to be considered for both training program, please list them in your order of preference. If you match into Yale's ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway, you will be placed into the ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway training program when you arrive. If you match into the Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program for the categorical 3-year training program, you will be placed into the categorical training program when you arrive.

Applicants who have applied and then invited to interview for an ABIM Physician-Scientist Training Program position with the Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program participate in two (2) consecutive interview days: an ABIM Physician-Scientist Training Program applicant interview day with the subspecialty section followed by a categorical applicant interview day (see Internal Medicine Categorical). Tatianna Hilton schedules ABIM Physician-Scientist Training Program applicants.