You said . . . We did . . .

We did... In my January 12, 2023 You Said, We Did newsletter, I shared information about different ways to report mistreatment and what the school does when we receive such reports. We held an in-person Town Hall on the Learning Environment on the evening of March 8 for all interested students. I encourage you to watch the presentations from the Town Hall if you could not attend. Below are a few key points from the discussion.

Number and types of reports: During the Town Hall, I presented data on the number of MD Program harassment, mistreatment, and discrimination reports between 2017 and 2022 during clerkship rotations. As you can see in the video, OB/GYN and Surgery have the greatest number of reports. While some reports describe a student’s experience of being treated harshly by team members, many describe incidents of residents being treated poorly by attendings, bias in the treatment of patients by nurses and other staff, and students being harassed or treated disrespectfully by patients.

The majority of our work on these issues has been within these two departments. The chairs of both OB/GYN and Surgery have engaged the Office of Academic and Professional Developmentto help with individual faculty members, and Yale New Haven Health System is working with us to address potential bias within staff. All departments are now meeting with students regularly to discuss their experiences, and faculty, residents, and fellows have been actively engaged in discussions about how to improve the learning environment in clinical settings.

This work is extremely important and will be ongoing; we are actively working to develop better ways to communicate with students and trainees about how these incidents are being handled and how the learning environment is being monitored to measure improvement. Read more.

We did... Preventing mistreatment, addressing lapses in professionalism, and having a transparent and supportive reporting process is a priority at YSM. We recognize that the process only will be effective, and you only will have confidence in it, if we do a better job providing you information about how and to whom you can share concerns and complaints about mistreatment, professionalism, or bias AND how the school addresses them.

How can you report a concern?

1. You can report a professionalism/mistreatment concern in real time, using this link, which we have embedded in five locations on the MD Program webpage, including toward the bottom of the Curriculum homepage. The Office of Academic and Professional Development (OAPD) receives these reports.
2. At the end of every curricular experience (course, clerkship, elective), you have the opportunity to complete an evaluation, which includes reporting any mistreatment, harassment, or bias you experienced or observed. Your reports are confidential and anonymous and are not visible to anyone who is evaluating you.
3. You may ALWAYS contact your course/clerkship/elective director, advisor, or any medical education dean if you have a concern that you would like to discuss. We will respect your confidentiality and discuss ways to approach or address your concerns.

What happens when you report a concern?

1. Reports to OAPD are responded to within two business days. OAPD’s first action will be to set up a time to talk with you about the concern and discuss options on how to respond to the concern, keeping in mind that confidentiality is often an important consideration. While OAPD’s purview is professionalism among YSM faculty, if your concern is not about a faculty member, OAPD staff will work with you to direct your concern to the group that can best address it. This OAPD summary provides additional information on how professionalism concerns are handled at YSM.
2. Reports embedded in curricular evaluations are reviewed on a quarterly basis by the Office of Curriculum and OAPD. The responsible department is required to produce an action plan in response to each report. In collaboration with Deputy Dean for Professionalism and Leadership Robert Rohrbaugh, Deputy Dean Illuzzi follows up with the chairs of each department to monitor progress in addressing issues of professionalism and conduct in the learning environment.

Deans Illuzzi and Schwartz are establishing a new Subcommittee of the Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (EPCC) to regularly review reports of harassment, mistreatment or bias in the learning environment, departments’ responses, and outcomes and to provide recommendations to the EPCC. Students interested in joining this committee should contact Dean Schwartz (Michael.Schwartz@Yale.edu).

Click here for more details on OAPD’s role in promoting faculty professionalism.

We did... I want to share several updates and resources:

Safety and Security Committee: Last year, Yale School of Medicine created a Safety and Security Committee. Dean Francis serves on it, as does 5th-year MD student Carmen Pajarillo. The committee, which meets quarterly, welcomes your ideas and feedback on how to improve YSM's safety and security, which you can submit using this Qualtrics survey. The committee also created this webpage listing campus-wide safety and security resources, including the LiveSafe app and an active shooter video.

Blue security phone survey: The Safety and Security Committee recently discussed the blue security phones that are placed in outside locations throughout the Yale University campus. The phones have red emergency buttons for direct connection to the Yale Police Department for police, fire, or medical emergencies.

This map shows the locations of the 500+ existing phones.

Yale Public Safety asked for input on locations on, or even near, campus that would benefit from a blue phone. Please complete this Qualtrics survey asking for your input by Tuesday, February 21. We want to hear your suggestions since so many of you study, work, and live on and near the Yale campus.

South Frontage Road infrastructure improvement plans: We were pleased that the city hosted a public meeting on January 9, 2023 about plans to make South Frontage Road, from Howard Avenue to College Street, safer for pedestrians and cyclists through measures such as four raised crossings, narrowing the lanes, adding sidewalks, and adding a separated bike lane. Construction is expected to begin next year. This link from the city includes the Zoom recording of the meeting and a PowerPoint of the plans that were presented.

Vision Zero legislation: House Bill No. 5917, “An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Vision Zero Council,” would enable municipalities in Connecticut to pass legislation to use automated enforcement in specified locations (high crash volumes, school zones, pedestrian safety zones), which would include the York Street and S. Frontage Road intersection, where speeding and red light running is rampant. We are grateful to fourth-year MD student Aishwarya Pillai for testifying passionately at the Transportation Committee hearing on January 30.

If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Abby Roth to learn more about the Yale Traffic Safety Committee.

We did...

We hosted a student Town Hall in June about public safety, in which Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell and representatives from Yale Security and Yale Parking & Transit participated. In response to concerns that the nighttime door-to-door shuttle had been discontinued during COVID-19 and not re-instituted, the Parking & Transit representatives shared that there is a new nighttime transit option: between 6:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., the Nighttime Blue and Orange Yale shuttle lines and the 333 Cedar Express, which all leave from 333 Cedar Street, provide “to door” drop-offs (taking you right to your destination) after making their fixed stops, if your stop is within the shuttle route boundaries. You are encouraged to notify the driver of your address for a “to door” drop-off. Read more about this transit option here.

We also want to echo Chief Campbell's encouragement that everyone download the LiveSafe app, which has important features such as requesting a walking escort, calling or sending discreet text messages directly to the Yale Police Department in an emergency, and allowing a friend or family member to track you as you travel. It also has very helpful information about what to do in numerous emergency situations, ranging from an active shooter, to a hurricane, to a fire. This information is available on the app’s homepage under Quick Links, Emergency Procedures.

We did... Since the Air Rights Garage has limited capacity, many of us (including me) park in Amistad Garage. Please consider using walking escorts, which you can access through the LiveSafe app, for the walk between YNHH and the Amistad Garage if you are leaving late. You will often see me doing this, too!

We have worked with Yale’s parking team to extend the time attendants are in Amistad Garage on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. On weekends and holidays, an attendant is present in the garage from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Additionally, there is a security officer assigned to Cedar Street, Amistad Park, and Garage between 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and again after the building closes until 10:30 p.m. After 10:30 p.m., a unit patrols this and the adjacent area until 6:30 a.m. Please note, officers assigned to this area may be called to perform other functions such as walking escorts and other calls for service.

Finally, we are pleased that a new blue phone was installed in Amistad Park, based on our request. Read more about the Blue Phones here.

We did... We investigated the options with the Yale Transit team and learned the following. The 333 Cedar Express shuttle runs every day from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., except holidays, and includes the Olive Street and State Street intersection, on the edge of Wooster Square.

This express service has one pick up location at 333 Cedar St, and has “To Door” service: When boarding the shuttle, please inform the driver of your “To Door” destination that is within the shuttle’s operating boundaries. The route/boundaries are as follows: from 333 Cedar, it travels northbound until it reaches Elm St, westbound until it reaches Howe St, and eastbound until it reaches Olive St. (at State Street).

All shuttles can be tracked on the Yale Shuttle Tracking URL.

I also want to share this map, which shows the boundaries for all the shuttles.

We have added this issue to the agenda for the next YSM Safety & Security Committee, to advocate for expanding the 333 Cedar Express Shuttle route to Olive and Chapel Streets.

We did... First, don’t forget about the online "Report a Professionalism Concern" button. It is monitored by the Office of Academic & Professional Development (OAPD) daily and is a quick and easy way to share a concern.

Over the summer, we updated our policy and procedure on mistreatment and harassment. The policy states, in part, “We embrace our responsibility to create, support, and facilitate a learning environment for our students so that they witness and experience a culture of respect, collegiality, kindness, and cooperation within the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) community,” and that “YSM does not tolerate any incidents of mistreatment or harassment of students by faculty, health professionals, staff, or other trainees. YSM encourages students to report any incidents of mistreatment or harassment, whether directed at themselves or others. YSM takes allegations of such behavior seriously and will investigate and respond to reports of mistreatment or harassment.”

The full policy, as well as detailed guidance on where and how to report any mistreatment, harassment, or other unprofessional behavior that does occur, is in the policy and procedure posted on our policy webpage. Confidentiality is a high priority, as is dealing with each incident in ways that are respectful and constructive. If you have questions, I encourage you to speak with me, Dean Francis, your advisor, or members of OAPD, DICE, or SHARE. These are always good places to start if you don’t know what to do about a particular situation.

In late February or early March, we will hold our second annual Town Hall on the learning environment, where we will share information and respond to any questions or concerns you have. We will let you know the date for the Town Hall soon!