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Early Clinical Experiences

Yale School of Medicine MD students have many opportunities for clinical experiences in the pre-clerkship curriculum. The Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience (ILCE) is designed to help first-year health professional students from Yale School of Medicine’s MD and Physician Associate (PA) programs begin to build a working knowledge of the clinical environment, health care organizations, and to learn to work effectively as part of the interprofessional health care team.

From mid-April of their first year to mid-December of their second year, MD students work in groups of four with a Medical Coach Experience (MCE) coach. The main purpose of the MCE is to prepare students to successfully complete the standardized history and physical exam assessment and to provide students opportunities to develop the skills they will need on the clerkships beginning in January of their second year.

Simulation opportunities at the Yale Center for Medical Simulation are woven into many pre-clinical courses.

Year 1: Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience (ILCE)

An interprofessional curriculum for first-year medical and physician associate students.*

The Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience (ILCE) is designed to prepare first-year health professional students from Yale School of Medicine’s MD and Physician Associate (PA) programs to function effectively in the clinical environment. The structure and content of the curriculum is based on the needs of our current health care and academic environment. Faculty coaches guide groups of students in interprofessional clinical experiences in a consistent health care setting. The ILCE Clinical Experiences are designed to help students begin to build a working knowledge of the clinical environment, health care organizations, and to learn to work effectively as part of the interprofessional health care team. Experiences also include planned group meetings designed to teach patient- and family-centered interviewing, physical examination skills, clinical reasoning, teamwork, and factors that impact health and the health care delivery system.

Program Goal

We believe that providing outstanding care for your future patients requires learning with, from, and about other health care professional students early in your training. You will accomplish this by working together to develop your clinical skills, knowledge, and attitudes.

Learning Objectives:

During the ILCE each student will:

  • Demonstrate the ability to learn with, from, and about each other (interprofessional education) by
    • being present for all sessions
    • engaging with their team and site members
    • listening respectfully
    • contributing to each activity
    • showing integrity and humility
    • understanding roles and responsibilities of other health care professionals
  • Apply key communication skills to conduct patient- and family-centered interviewing. (Clinical skills)
  • Practice selected physical examination techniques in the clinical setting. (Clinical skills)
  • Demonstrate the basic principles of oral presentation in the clinical setting. (Clinical skills)
  • Develop clinical reasoning skills by identifying the salient parts of the history and physical and begin to consider differential diagnoses (assessed in simulation and large group workshop).
*Typically the ILCE includes all first-year Yale Medical, Physician Associate, and Graduate Entry Pre-Specialty Nursing students. For academic year 2021-22, Yale School of Nursing (YSN) will be taking a hiatus due to a curriculum redesign. It is anticipated YSN will rejoin the ILCE in the fall of 2022.

ILCE Co-Directors

ILCE Associate Director

ILCE Section Leaders

ILCE Administrative Team

For more information, please contact:

Margaret (Peg) Gallagher
Simulation Coordinator
Peg.Gallagher@yale.edu
203-785-3448

Danette Morrison
ILCE Program Coordinator
Danette.Morrison@yale.edu
203-737-4193