Medical Student & Undergraduate Opportunities
The Department of Laboratory Medicine is responsible for
- Basic Laboratory Medicine (Laboratory Medicine 102b for 2nd years)
- Medical Microbiology (Laboratory Medicine 123a for 2nd years)
- Laboratory Medicine Sessions (3rd year medical and PA students)
- Advanced (3rd/4th year student) elective in clinical pathology (Laboratory Medicine 131)
- Laboratory Medicine and Surgical Pathology Elective
The department invites 4th year students from other U.S. or Canadian medical schools to apply to take the clinical rotation. Inquiries should be addressed to the Office of Student Affairs at Yale School of Medicine. General inquiries can also be made to the Laboratory Medicine Director of Medical Studies at sheldon.campbell@yale.edu.
Yale medical students are invited to apply to the departmental faculty to serve as mentors for the senior thesis. Students from other medical schools may also apply to individual faculty to carry out research projects
Yale undergraduate students may also obtain a research experience with any of the Laboratory Medicine faculty through the courses: Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (MB&B) 470a and/or 471b, and Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) 475 and/or 495.
Medical students who are considering a career in laboratory medicine or combined laboratory medicine and anatomic pathology, whether clinical or investigative, are invited to contact the department about the possibility of an intensive senior or post-sophomore year experience and also about residency opportunities.
Classes Offered
- Laboratory Medicine 102b
This lecture, laboratory, and seminar course deals with scientific use of clinical laboratories (hematology, clinical chemistry, immunology, blood banking) as a basis for the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Emphasis is on the selection and interpretation of laboratory tests used in the practice of medicine as well as on acquiring some understanding of the technology used in the clinical laboratories. Lectures and laboratories are integrated into the organ-based modular system of clinical instruction for second-year medical students. Second-year course.
M.L. Landry and associates
- Laboratory Medicine and Surgical Pathology Elective
The goals for anatomic pathology are to understand the basic principles of diagnostic anatomic pathology and its role in clinical medicine. The goals for laboratory medicine are to learn appropriate usage and interpretation of laboratory tests and to gain a better understanding of the theoretical, technological, and clinical underpinnings of laboratory medicine. This elective is appropriate for students considering a career in laboratory medicine and/or pathology, and for all students who will use laboratory and pathology tests in their careers. One or two students every four weeks.
Director: A. Adeniran
- Laboratory Medicine 131
This elective offers rotations through the clinical laboratories, including Blood Bank, Therapeutic Apheresis, Clinical Chemistry, Toxicology, Hematology and Coagulation, Flow Cytometry, Immunology, Molecular Diagnostics, Microbiology and Virology. Students work closely with residents, fellows, attendings, and laboratory staff; work up clinical cases under supervision; and attend morning report, case conference, journal club, clinical rounds, and didactic sessions. Students can also have the opportunity to work with the resident on-call for at least one weekend day during the elective. Students can rotate through all laboratories or focus on specific laboratories of interest. The goals of the elective are to learn appropriate usage and interpretation of laboratory tests, and to gain a better understanding of the theoretical, technological and clinical underpinnings of Laboratory Medicine. This elective is appropriate for students considering a career in Laboratory Medicine or combined Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, but also for all students who will use clinical laboratory testing in their careers. One or two students every 2 to 4 weeks.
Director: M.L. Landry.
- Laboratory Medicine Sessions for Third Year Medical and PA Students
The purpose of the Laboratory Medicine Sessions is to introduce third-year medical students and PA students to basic concepts of Laboratory Medicine. On the first afternoon of their clerkship at Yale New Haven Hospital, students rotate through four laboratories--Chemistry, Hematology, Blood Bank, and Microbiology/Virology, where faculty demonstrate principles of Laboratory Medicine using clinical case materials. Different test methods and clinical cases are presented.
M.L. Landry and associates
- Laboratory Medicine 123a, Medical Microbiology
This course focuses on both basic microbial pathophysiology and medical microbiology. The course is divided into four sections, consisting of microbial physiology and genetics, bacteriology and mycology, virology, and parasitology. Microbial pathogenesis is taught as it relates to human infectious disease on the cellular and molecular levels. The unique structures, lifestyles, and roles in producing disease of medically important microbes are taught in lecture, laboratory, and small group settings. Laboratory sessions employ a case-based approach to teach the effective use of laboratory testing in the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases. Microscopy, culture, biochemical, immunological, and molecular techniques are demonstrated and discussed, and simple tests such as Gram stain and rapid antigen tests are performed. Problem-based learning sessions in clinical infectious disease are offered in the last half of the course to bridge the science of the microbe to the management of infected patients. Second-year course.
S. Campbell, M.L. Landry, D. Peaper, and associates