Extended Study at YSM

A student may choose to conduct one year of Extended Study prior to graduation from the MD program to engage in:

1. a Research or Hybrid Flex Year (mentored research/clinical electives/global health/other projects)
2. a joint degree program at Yale (MD-MHS, MD-MBA, MD-MPH, etc.)
3. a dual degree program at another university

A student conducting Extended Study at YSM has the same privileges as any other enrolled medical student, including:

• continuation of health insurance
• loan deferrals
• ID access within the medical school and YNHH
• medical liability and disability insurance coverage

Extended Study is limited to one year. Additional time is not permitted without prior approval from the YSM MD Program Progress Committee for exceptional circumstances.

Students enrolled in a Research or Hybrid Flex Year are not charged an additional year of MD tuition. Students enrolled in joint or dual degree programs are charged tuition by the degree program in which they are enrolled. MD program fees are charged based on the type of Extended Study taken.

Research or Hybrid Flex Year Tuition

Most students enrolled in a Research or Hybrid Flex Year have options for when they pay their last year of MD tuition during the final two years of enrollment:

• Full tuition can be billed one year and a continuing registration fee billed in the other year.
• One-half the tuition and one-half the registration fee can be charged each of the two years.

IMPORTANT

If you choose a Research or Hybrid Flex Year, how and when you pay your tuition affects your eligibility for financial aid during your final two years of enrollment.

Students are eligible for YSM need-based scholarship only if they are being billed for tuition or a portion of tuition in that academic year.

Therefore, if you choose to split tuition, you can be considered for YSM need-based scholarship for both the fourth and fifth chronological years.

Split tuition must be selected by April 15 before the Flex Year begins.

Students who receive financial aid, loans, or scholarships should speak directly to the Office of Financial Aid to learn which tuition billing option would be best suited for them during their final two years at YSM.
Email: ysmfinaid@yale.edu
Tel: 203-785-2645

Students who engage in a Research Flex Year, which comprises full-time, mentored research during the year of Extended Study, are eligible to apply for a One-Year Research Fellowship through the Office of Student Research. The fellowship is an educational opportunity that requires at least 10 months of full-time, mentored research and provides a stipend to subsidize living expenses.

The one-year stipend is generally disbursed over an eleven-month period from July 1 to May 31. You should confirm the timing with the Office of Student Research for your particular source of funding.

If you do not choose to apply for financial aid for the Research Flex Year, your research stipend will need to last an entire year or until the next academic year begins.

Students who engage in a Hybrid Flex Year, which is a combination of research blocks, clinical electives, and other activities, are eligible to apply for Short-Term Research Funding through the Office of Student Research. Short-Term Research Funding subsidizes living expenses during continuous 4-week periods in which students are engaged in full-time mentored research. Students may apply four times a year: September, December, March, and June.

If you apply for multiple rounds of funding, this can result in multiple revisions of your financial aid award, so you should plan and budget accordingly. Before accepting a refund on your bursar account, be sure to confirm with Financial Aid or refer to your most recent financial aid letter in YaleHub that your financial aid award has taken your research stipend funding into account.

If you engage in a joint or dual degree during Extended Study, you must arrange financial aid through the school in which you are paying tuition. This requirement applies whether you are attending another graduate or professional school within Yale, or another institution.

If you engage in Extended Study to pursue a joint degree at YSM (MD-MHS) or another Yale school (MD-MBA, MD-MPH, etc.), you will be charged tuition and fees by that school.

Like other joint degree programs, students enrolled in the YSM MD-MHS Program are charged MHS tuition during the MHS year. However, MHS tuition for MD students in the MD-MHS program is subsidized by the Office of Student Research through grants, scholarships, and other institutional funds.

In addition, MHS students are eligible for the One-Year Research Fellowship through the Office of Student Research to subsidize living expenses. When MD-MHS students return to the MD program in their fifth (final) year, they are charged MD tuition. In both the fourth (MHS) and fifth (MD) years, students are charged the student activity, technology, and background check fees.

Students in the MD-MHS Program remain eligible to be considered for YSM financial aid and need-based scholarship during all five years. For those students receiving financial aid, research stipends will first replace loans and/or family contributions. Yale need-based scholarship is only reduced if your research funding exceeds the sum of your loans and family contributions.

If you use Extended Study to pursue a dual degree at another institution, you will be charged the continuing registration fee, but not the YSM student activity, technology, or background check fees.

Students planning to engage in a Flex Year, joint degree, or dual degree are required to complete the online Extended Study/Change of Class Form during the spring term of their third year.

(Note: Joint and dual degree students do not have the option for split year tuition and are charged the full MD tuition in the fifth chronological year.)

If the form is received after April 15, the Flex Year student will automatically be billed the full tuition for the Flex Year (the fourth chronological year) and billed the continuing registration fee in the final academic year. Therefore, submitting the form after April 15 will make the student ineligible to receive YSM need-based scholarship in their final year.

Learn more about Extended Study Tuition and Financial Aid