Giving with Impact: How alumni are shaping the YSM student experience
November 14, 2023Information
The virtual conversation showcased the impact of alumni philanthropy on the medical student experience of today.
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- 00:06Good evening and welcome.
- 00:08Thank you so much for
- 00:11joining us this evening.
- 00:12My name is Amanda Bassett,
- 00:14and I'm the Director of Alumni Affairs
- 00:17and Giving for the School of Medicine.
- 00:20I'm so excited to have you with us
- 00:22to showcase how your contributions
- 00:24to the Alumni fund have shaped
- 00:26and enhanced the medical student
- 00:28experience over the past year.
- 00:30Tonight I'm joined by my colleagues, Dr.
- 00:33Anne Arthur, Director of Alumni Engagement,
- 00:35Michael Fitzusa, Director of Development,
- 00:38Bridget Austin, Associate Director
- 00:39of Annual and Special Giving,
- 00:41and Tiffany Penn, Communications Manager.
- 00:44I want to thank them for all the work that
- 00:46they do to support our alumni community.
- 00:49Before I introduce our host,
- 00:51I want to go through a
- 00:53few housekeeping items.
- 00:55Please, if you haven't already,
- 00:56share your class here and where you
- 00:58are joining us in the chat so we can
- 01:01get a little bit more acquainted.
- 01:03Tonight is supposed to be conversational,
- 01:05so if you are conversational
- 01:07so if you are comfortable,
- 01:09I encourage you to please keep your
- 01:11camera on as that makes for a more
- 01:13engaging experience for all attendees.
- 01:15The virtual.
- 01:16This virtual conversation is being
- 01:17recorded and will be available for
- 01:19viewing after the event on the alumni
- 01:22website and we will also follow this
- 01:24session up with a post event survey
- 01:26and would welcome your feedback as we
- 01:29plan hope to plan future programming
- 01:32specifically towards your interests.
- 01:34Please ensure that you remain muted
- 01:36throughout the conversation to ensure
- 01:39all attendees can hear appropriately.
- 01:41There will be time at the end
- 01:43of this discussion for Q&A,
- 01:45so please, as we head towards that,
- 01:47feel empowered to use the Raise Hand
- 01:49function at the bottom of your screen
- 01:51or place your question in the chat,
- 01:53and we'll do our best to get
- 01:55to all of the questions.
- 01:57Should you have any issues
- 01:59during our conversation,
- 02:00please feel free to use the chat function
- 02:02and our team will work to answer all of
- 02:05all of the issues you might be facing.
- 02:08And a friendly reminder for those
- 02:09of you who are class agents,
- 02:11please stay on at the end of this call
- 02:13for a quick update on your end giving.
- 02:16I am so pleased without further ado to
- 02:18introduce you all to Doctor Mark Meyer
- 02:20who will be our host for this session.
- 02:23Mark was appointed the Chair of Agents
- 02:25for the Alumni Fund in July of 2022 after
- 02:27serving as Co Chair for three years.
- 02:30He has been a class agent since
- 02:322015 and an active School of
- 02:34Medicine volunteer for many years.
- 02:36Mark,
- 02:36I want to thank you for your leadership
- 02:39and partnership as an alumni volunteer
- 02:41and really appreciate you hosting
- 02:44this conversation this evening.
- 02:46Take it away.
- 02:48Thank you very much, Amanda,
- 02:50and a special thanks to all of our alumni,
- 02:52volunteers and donors in attendance.
- 02:56I also want to say hello to all
- 02:57the people I know on the call,
- 02:59and I'm looking forward to talking to
- 03:01any of you I I've never met before.
- 03:03I want to say a special
- 03:05hello to Doctor Al Weil,
- 03:07who is joining us nauseatingly from Maui.
- 03:11You can see in the background there,
- 03:14but we won't hold it against them.
- 03:15And Al was my first clinical tutor,
- 03:18my first week of medical school,
- 03:21so I hold him responsible for all of the
- 03:23mistakes that I've made in the last 30 years.
- 03:27We're here tonight to highlight the
- 03:29impact of alumni philanthropy on the
- 03:32medical students experience of today.
- 03:34Thanks to the support of our
- 03:36alumni last year and all of you
- 03:39for helping to get them to donate.
- 03:41We raised over $1 million and
- 03:44that has directly enhanced student
- 03:46life and medical education.
- 03:50I know everybody always wonders, well,
- 03:52how does that much money really matter,
- 03:54given how much money the school raises
- 03:56in general and the university overall?
- 03:58But it matters.
- 04:00It matters very directly to the students.
- 04:02It matters in their daily lives,
- 04:05in their research.
- 04:06And if you need more details on that,
- 04:08Amanda and Bridget and Anne could very
- 04:11carefully walk you through all of that.
- 04:13We're also grateful to be joined
- 04:16by Doctor Jessica Iluzi,
- 04:17the Deputy Dean for Education and
- 04:20Professor of Medical Education
- 04:22and Professor of Obstetrics,
- 04:23Gynecology and Reproduced
- 04:25Productive sciences.
- 04:26I tried to do all of her
- 04:28qualifications without taking a breath,
- 04:30but it's not possible.
- 04:31She's a graduate of Harvard Medical School,
- 04:34but we still recognize her as a
- 04:37qualified physician and completed
- 04:39her OBGYN residency at Yale in 2006.
- 04:43She create completed a Master of
- 04:45Science degree in Epidemiology at
- 04:47the Yale School of Graduate Studies.
- 04:50She serves as chief of the Obstetrics,
- 04:52Specialties and Midwifery Research Division,
- 04:56as well as the Medical director of the
- 04:58Badone Birthing Center at Saint Rayfield,
- 05:01which is now part of Yale New Haven
- 05:03Hospital in the educational domain.
- 05:05Doctor Luzi has previously served as
- 05:08clerkship director and Director of
- 05:10Medical Studies in OBGYN and curriculum
- 05:13director for the advanced training
- 05:15period for the MD program at the school.
- 05:18She played an active role in
- 05:20the YSM curriculum redesign.
- 05:23She is very involved in the RE
- 05:26accreditation cycles and can use to
- 05:28be a strong advocate for students,
- 05:30trainees and faculty in the educational
- 05:32mission of the Yale School of Medicine.
- 05:36So I'll turn it over to Doctor Aluzi.
- 05:37And then I guess after she's finished,
- 05:40I'll introduce our next speaker.
- 05:46Great. Thank you so much.
- 05:56So hello, everyone.
- 05:57I'm so pleased to be here tonight.
- 06:00I have a few slides to share with you.
- 06:03Mostly, I love them because there's
- 06:06pictures of students in them and
- 06:08you can see the joy in their faces.
- 06:11So let me share those,
- 06:14All right. Can you tell me which are
- 06:17you seeing the whole slide or are you
- 06:19seeing the presenter screen? We're
- 06:22in presenter screen right now. All
- 06:23right. Let me just switch that.
- 06:27All right. Is that better?
- 06:30OK, I'm getting good at the zoom thing.
- 06:34All right. Well, I want to start by sharing
- 06:36with all of you our updated mission
- 06:39statement at Yale School of Medicine.
- 06:41I am particularly pleased by this statement,
- 06:44which was worked on by students,
- 06:47faculty and other stakeholders
- 06:49across the School of Medicine to
- 06:51outline what's important here for
- 06:53us at the Yale School of Medicine.
- 06:55And I just want to point out what I've put
- 06:58in bold is that educating and nurturing
- 07:00creative leaders in medicine and science,
- 07:03promoting curiosity and critical inquiry
- 07:05in an inclusive environment enriched
- 07:08by diversity, is the first sentence
- 07:11in our previous mission statement.
- 07:13It didn't have the word educates,
- 07:15so I'm particularly happy with
- 07:17the evolution of this statement.
- 07:19Over time,
- 07:23I would like to reassure everyone that
- 07:26the Yale system is alive and going strong.
- 07:30When we asked students why they
- 07:32chose Yale in preparation for
- 07:35our upcoming admission cycle,
- 07:37we received really great comments
- 07:39from our current students who are
- 07:42here really praising their experience
- 07:44here as a student in the Yale system,
- 07:48which supports the flexibility and
- 07:51the passions of the flexibility in
- 07:54the curriculum and the passions that
- 07:56our students have to pursue areas
- 07:59of education and research throughout
- 08:03their time while they're here.
- 08:05The MD program may look a little
- 08:07bit different now than when some
- 08:09of you came through,
- 08:10but this is how it is structured
- 08:13at this time.
- 08:14So you can see the pre clerkship
- 08:16period is about a year and a half.
- 08:18IT students enter their clerkships
- 08:20in January of their second year
- 08:23after having completed a year and
- 08:25a half of integrated courses as
- 08:28well as clinical skills and the
- 08:30longitudinal clinical experience.
- 08:32They go through the clerkships and
- 08:36then emerge about a year and a half
- 08:39before graduation and are able to
- 08:41pursue their passions on their research
- 08:43and take electives and some internships.
- 08:46And as many of you know,
- 08:48many of our students do leave
- 08:50here to do the the PhD portion.
- 08:53We have 24 MDPHD students each year
- 08:56and then another large group of
- 08:59students do a fully funded 5th year,
- 09:01which means that they may
- 09:05achieve an MHS degree,
- 09:06Masters of Health Science,
- 09:08or a multitude of other joint degree
- 09:12programs.
- 09:12I also wanted to briefly make sure
- 09:15that everyone was updated with regard
- 09:18to our strategic planning domains.
- 09:20We are very excited to be
- 09:22pursuing these domains,
- 09:23so I'm just going to briefly go over them.
- 09:26So the first domain is related to student
- 09:29engagement and attaining competency.
- 09:32And you may be thinking, you know,
- 09:35how does that jive with the Yale system?
- 09:38We just underwent an LCME accreditation
- 09:41visit and we were tasked with determining
- 09:45how we could show the LCME that we help
- 09:49our students monitor their progress
- 09:51in attaining competency in a system,
- 09:53as you know,
- 09:55where we don't really have grades.
- 09:57And there's a lot of independence
- 10:00and anonymity in testing.
- 10:02So let me share with you.
- 10:04So first of all,
- 10:06we have engaged in a much more
- 10:08innovative way of engaging our
- 10:11students in our curriculum.
- 10:12This is the new technology that we're
- 10:15currently using when we teach anatomy.
- 10:17We still have cadaver dissection
- 10:20and students spend time going
- 10:22through each organ system,
- 10:23but we also supplement that with
- 10:26some of this type of virtual reality
- 10:30and visual imagery As far as helping
- 10:33our students monitor their progress.
- 10:36This is our creative way of
- 10:39meeting the LCME requirements,
- 10:41but giving students the ability to
- 10:44monitor their progress in meeting the
- 10:46milestones across the curriculum.
- 10:48We now assign our students to an A
- 10:51longitudinal coach that they meet in
- 10:54the first month of the curriculum
- 10:56and that person follows them through
- 10:58all four years of
- 11:00the curriculum and looks with the
- 11:02student at their progress across
- 11:05all the domains whether it's
- 11:07clinical reasoning mechanisms and
- 11:09treatments of disease communication,
- 11:11professional identity formation.
- 11:13So in this way we're able to minimize
- 11:18testing and have active engagement
- 11:21in students own own progress.
- 11:23Our second domain is in increasing
- 11:26and enhancing faculty participation
- 11:28in the educational mission.
- 11:31For those of you who are working
- 11:33in academic medical centers,
- 11:34you probably are aware how challenging
- 11:37this can be in an environment
- 11:40where there's a lot of pressure
- 11:43on our physicians to increase
- 11:45the Rvus that they're producing,
- 11:47not as much time to engage
- 11:50with students and trainees.
- 11:52And so we've been working really hard
- 11:55to make sure that our faculty are
- 11:57able to find the time to participate
- 12:00not only in teaching by providing
- 12:02protected time for that teaching,
- 12:05but also increasing its value
- 12:07in the promotions process.
- 12:09This is our new Center for medical education,
- 12:12which really helps student faculty develop
- 12:15their teaching skills and helps them
- 12:18develop scholarship in medical education.
- 12:23Our last domain,
- 12:24which may be the most exciting,
- 12:26are the ways that we are trying
- 12:28to build a more inclusive and
- 12:30enriched learning environment.
- 12:31So I'll go through some examples of that.
- 12:34So we are creating 6 new colleges
- 12:37similar to the undergraduate model
- 12:40where we will be having multiple social
- 12:44gatherings and mentorship opportunities.
- 12:46And at this point in time,
- 12:50we have the six colleges formed.
- 12:52Students are assigned to them
- 12:54based on their advisors.
- 12:56You might notice there are no
- 12:58names for the colleges right now.
- 12:59They are only identified by callers.
- 13:02We did put out a call for nominations
- 13:05for the names of our colleges and
- 13:08many of you participated in that call
- 13:11and we had over 451 nominations.
- 13:14So we are working very hard to
- 13:18determine which six names will
- 13:22be assigned to our colleges.
- 13:24In the meantime,
- 13:26we are going by colors and as you can see,
- 13:29each of the colleges is supervised
- 13:32by an academic advisor and then the
- 13:34coaches that I introduced you to.
- 13:36Currently there are three per college
- 13:39and that number will be increasing
- 13:41to six per college next year.
- 13:43And then you can see we've got students
- 13:45from across all years of the curriculum.
- 13:47And what I love about this is that
- 13:50the gatherings that we've had so far,
- 13:53you're seeing first years interfacing
- 13:55with fourth years and MDPHD programs
- 13:58who are in their PhD portion.
- 14:00Like right at the beginning.
- 14:02This is not something that we'd had
- 14:04been able to really facilitate and
- 14:06definitely COVID had had kind of
- 14:09pushed back on on the ability to do that.
- 14:12So I think that we're really glad
- 14:14to be resuming these interactions.
- 14:16We have PA students in who are also
- 14:19assigned to our college And then
- 14:21I'm very pleased to see the robust
- 14:24participation that we have amongst
- 14:26our faculty, fellows and residents.
- 14:28There are about 20 for each of the
- 14:32colleges and then of the alumni.
- 14:34Really pleased to see the robust
- 14:37participation of alumni when we
- 14:40sent out a call.
- 14:41You may be only recently hearing
- 14:45from us about being assigned to a
- 14:48college and some of the orientation
- 14:50events where we're sharing the
- 14:52vision of the college.
- 14:54We did take us a little longer to get this
- 14:56off the ground than we had anticipated,
- 14:58most likely due to the fact that we were
- 15:01being visited by the LCME last month.
- 15:04That took a sapped a lot of energy and
- 15:07time from the administration here.
- 15:09And lastly,
- 15:10I'd point out that we also have
- 15:12community liaisons for each of
- 15:13the colleges who are helping the
- 15:15students learn more about New Haven,
- 15:17how they can participate in community
- 15:20service and outreach within the community.
- 15:23And really a nice way to kind of
- 15:26help students in the community
- 15:28integrate better with one another
- 15:30and help us improve how we serve
- 15:33the needs of our community.
- 15:35One of the other aspects of
- 15:37domain Three is the build out
- 15:39of our HealthEquity thread.
- 15:41This was launched in 2021 and is headed
- 15:44by Beverly Shears and Doug Shenson,
- 15:46both faculty here at the School of Medicine.
- 15:49And they have done a tremendous amount of
- 15:51work to look at our pre clerkship curriculum,
- 15:54the clerkship curriculum and now even the
- 15:57advanced training period in our capstone
- 15:59course to make sure that students are
- 16:01learning about the social determinants
- 16:03of health throughout the curriculum,
- 16:05learning about the contributors
- 16:08to disparities in health outcomes.
- 16:11And you know one of the areas as
- 16:14an OBGYN that I am most interested
- 16:17in are the disparities of maternal
- 16:20morbidity and mortality.
- 16:21Those are taught as early as the intro to the
- 16:25profession course in our advanced training.
- 16:29Sorry, across the lifespan course
- 16:31in the pre clerkship curriculum,
- 16:33it gets revisited again in the clerkships,
- 16:36women's and Children's Health and
- 16:38then again in the capstone course.
- 16:40So that's an example of a theme that
- 16:42is revisited throughout the whole
- 16:44four years and really helping students
- 16:47to understand how racism has had an
- 16:52impact on the outcomes for people
- 16:54who live in the United States.
- 16:59The recent class that entered
- 17:03in this year is very diverse.
- 17:06It's our divert most diverse class
- 17:09yet at the School of Medicine.
- 17:11As you can see we have 35% who are
- 17:14under represented in medicine and
- 17:16they come from all over the country.
- 17:1858 colleges and universities,
- 17:2127% are born outside of the US and we've
- 17:25had this year we have 17 MDPHD students.
- 17:30I just wanted to share a brief slide
- 17:33showing you what has happened with the
- 17:37cost of attending medical school over
- 17:41the past couple years and decades.
- 17:44Our tuition is now 71,000 that
- 17:47includes the the activity fees as well.
- 17:51And then we estimate 22,000 for room
- 17:55and board and 13,000 for other expenses
- 17:58like transportation and the other
- 18:01costs of being a medical student.
- 18:04One of the things that we're very
- 18:06excited about is that the for students
- 18:09who qualify for financial aid,
- 18:14we are now able to provide most
- 18:16of it in scholarship.
- 18:18So 75,000 is the average scholarship
- 18:21that we provide to students who
- 18:24qualify for financial aid and we
- 18:28only require 10,000 in borrowing.
- 18:33One of the things I would point
- 18:35out here is that this still does
- 18:38leave a student family contribution
- 18:40for most families and that is an
- 18:43area that we are working hard on
- 18:45because there are some students.
- 18:47Even though we are requiring
- 18:51$10,000 of loan each year,
- 18:53there are some students who decide that
- 18:56their families cannot contribute the
- 18:58determined amount and have ended up
- 19:01taking out more than the $10,000 loan.
- 19:03But this is the amount that is required.
- 19:07And as you can see this approach
- 19:09over the years,
- 19:10especially with the support of our alumni,
- 19:13has been able to bring the median debt
- 19:17or average debt at graduation for the
- 19:20Yale School of Medicine significantly
- 19:22lower than many of our peer schools.
- 19:25So this is all public and private
- 19:28schools up above and you can
- 19:30see that it's closer to 200,000.
- 19:33We are currently at 106 as per
- 19:37average average graduating debt.
- 19:38So we have a lot more to go in
- 19:42in making this trying to improve
- 19:45the debt that our students carry
- 19:47with them after graduation.
- 19:50For those students who do
- 19:53qualify for financial aid,
- 19:55they at the moment with
- 19:58the $10,000 loan each year,
- 20:01would graduate with a $40,000 debt.
- 20:08And then lastly, I just want to
- 20:10conclude with showing you where our
- 20:13students are going after they leave.
- 20:15We still have a very active group of
- 20:20students who are get very involved in
- 20:23both community service and research,
- 20:26perform very well academically
- 20:27and are matching at some of the
- 20:30top programs across the country.
- 20:37So I'm going to start my slides right now
- 20:43and probably we'll be turning this over to
- 20:49Paul or back to Mark. Yeah, that's good.
- 20:53I'll introduce Paul.
- 20:54Thank you so much, Doctor. Lucy.
- 20:56Lucy, I know we'll have time
- 20:58for some questions at the end,
- 21:01or I hope we will.
- 21:02So joining us tonight also
- 21:04is Doctor Paul Tavreau.
- 21:05I had the pleasure of speaking with
- 21:07him the other day for the first time.
- 21:09Paul is a practicing cardiac
- 21:11electrophysiologist and Chairman and
- 21:13Managing Partner at the Huntsville
- 21:15Hospital's Heart Center in Huntsville, AL.
- 21:17He heard his MD and MPH from the University
- 21:20of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001,
- 21:23and he came to Yale,
- 21:25where he was a resident in the
- 21:27early part of the 21st century and
- 21:30chief resident in primary care
- 21:31at the Yale Primary Care Program.
- 21:34He returned to the University
- 21:36of Alabama and was named Chief
- 21:38Fellow in Cardiovascular diseases
- 21:40and then electrophysiology.
- 21:42He's a clinical assistant professor of
- 21:44medicine at the University of Alabama,
- 21:46the vice chair of the medical staff
- 21:49at Huntsville Hospital and the
- 21:51acting governor to the American
- 21:54College of Cardiology in Alabama.
- 21:56I feel really unaccomplished when
- 21:58I introduced all of these people.
- 22:01Doctor Tavro is also one of the
- 22:05alumni fund's most generous donors
- 22:08and in 2021 was the inaugural lead
- 22:11donor for the newly created Giving
- 22:13Opportunity within the Fund to Support
- 22:16DEI Students initiatives here at Yale.
- 22:18So I will turn it over to Paul.
- 22:21Thank you so much, Mark,
- 22:22and thank you all for being here.
- 22:24This is a joy for me to be able to
- 22:27share a little bit with you all my
- 22:30experience and interest in the fund.
- 22:32And I come to it from the residency
- 22:35fellow perspective rather than from
- 22:37the medical student perspective,
- 22:39which many of you really had
- 22:41as your experience at Yale.
- 22:43But I had gotten involved I guess
- 22:46in in giving to the Fund when we
- 22:49had a reunion for Steve Hewitt,
- 22:50one of my professors,
- 22:52a few years back and that led to a
- 22:57lot of reconnections with friends and
- 22:59faculty that I have had just wonderful
- 23:02relations with through the years.
- 23:05My training at Yale was really one
- 23:06of the highlights of my career.
- 23:07I learned a lot.
- 23:08It was a very new experience for me.
- 23:10I grew up in a very rural background in
- 23:13from from a very small town in Alabama,
- 23:15kind of a a poor rural town in North Alabama.
- 23:19And when we came to Yale,
- 23:22I received not only outstanding
- 23:24training and exposure,
- 23:26but it gained a lot of friendships
- 23:28in that time.
- 23:28And so really during and after
- 23:32the COVID experience,
- 23:34I continue to kind of seek things that
- 23:37reverberate that feeling of connection,
- 23:40'cause I think we lost a lot of
- 23:42connections in that period of time.
- 23:44As a donor,
- 23:46I was particularly drawn after
- 23:47talking with our,
- 23:48our doning advisors at Yale about some
- 23:51of the opportunities that exist there.
- 23:53And specifically,
- 23:54I've always looked at ways of improving
- 23:59a perspective from an institution
- 24:01on disadvantages that might exist
- 24:03either in the selection process,
- 24:05the mentorship process,
- 24:06or really even just in the daily
- 24:09experience of being a student.
- 24:11So after discussions with the
- 24:12development team in the AT at the
- 24:15Yale School of Medicine I felt
- 24:17particularly called to be a leader in
- 24:19the diversity and equity and inclusion space,
- 24:21which was just getting off the
- 24:23ground at that point and also
- 24:26in our student emergency fund.
- 24:28So at first glance a white male
- 24:31leader from the South seems like a
- 24:33weird advocate for the DEI fund.
- 24:36But like I said,
- 24:37I grew up in a kind of a a small town,
- 24:39rural community and I have felt both
- 24:42out of place and sometimes unincluded
- 24:45in lots of different environments in my life,
- 24:48not in life.
- 24:49When I first came to Yale I was
- 24:51definitely the fish out of water and
- 24:53my slow southern draw was always a
- 24:56unique feature of of my part of the rounds.
- 24:59So,
- 25:01but all to say,
- 25:04when one of the gifts of DI involvement
- 25:07that I have learned and really taken
- 25:10root in has been the message that DI is
- 25:13really something that involves all of us.
- 25:17It's really not related to any
- 25:20specific group or activity,
- 25:22but it's a concept.
- 25:23And in my mind that concept
- 25:26is one of belonging.
- 25:28I think the sense of belonging is what we all
- 25:31desire in our lives and our careers.
- 25:33I think that our efforts to improve
- 25:35access to all students and residents,
- 25:37fellows in the selection, mentorship,
- 25:39and then their daily interaction,
- 25:40should be at the core value.
- 25:42At Yale, I have come to understand
- 25:46the needs of our students,
- 25:47and it is clear, unfortunately,
- 25:49that there are still inequalities
- 25:52that exist and they're alive and
- 25:55well at our beloved institution.
- 25:58But we, the alumni,
- 25:59can fill some of that gap,
- 26:01and I have seen that first hand that gap.
- 26:05Some of the giving that has been
- 26:08given has been used to share,
- 26:09even to bare essentials
- 26:11for some of these students,
- 26:12such as clothing or even groceries.
- 26:15Our trainees should never feel embarrassed
- 26:18or lesser than for just not having the
- 26:22access to basic essentials of needs.
- 26:24We can make a difference to ensure
- 26:26that these are not the stressors that
- 26:29define their time and experience.
- 26:31While a student at Yale in December of 2021,
- 26:36we did make quite an impact as
- 26:39the inaugural donor to this newly
- 26:42established Diversity,
- 26:43Equity and Inclusion initiative.
- 26:46With the support of of the Fund,
- 26:49my family and I contributed to
- 26:51leverage the participation really
- 26:53from the YSM alumni community and
- 26:56the year end challenge resulted
- 26:58in nearly a $440,000 a gift of
- 27:01support to the Yale students.
- 27:04I'm really thrilled and really touched it.
- 27:07It's very meaningful to me that we
- 27:09have been able to help students lives
- 27:12in this direct way that was really
- 27:15our most successful calendar year to
- 27:18record for the Yale School of Medicine.
- 27:21In those four short weeks,
- 27:22I'll tell you that 55 donors gave to the
- 27:25New DEI Fund to a total of around $17,800.
- 27:29We welcomed 70 new alumni and
- 27:31friends to the donor community.
- 27:34We had more than 130 donors make larger
- 27:37gifts than they made the prior year
- 27:40and the school received 7 gifts at the
- 27:4310,000 plus level leadership level,
- 27:45two of which went on to be named for the
- 27:49one year Dorothy Hortzman scholarships.
- 27:51I'm thrilled to announce that tonight
- 27:54that my family plans to again provide
- 27:57a pledge of an additional 100,000
- 28:00to offer a new year end challenge.
- 28:03We'll be kicking this off this challenge
- 28:05on Giving Tuesday, November 28th,
- 28:07running through December 31st,
- 28:10and all gifts to the alumni
- 28:12fund will be matched.
- 28:13I promise you that we are making a
- 28:16difference in the lives of Yale students,
- 28:18residents,
- 28:18and fellows and trainees
- 28:22and that every dollar
- 28:24does matter. I hope that you will
- 28:26consider giving back and supporting the
- 28:29next generation of trainees at Yale.
- 28:31And if you've already made
- 28:33your gifts for this year,
- 28:34please think of us next year.
- 28:36Thanks, Mark.
- 28:39Thank you so much, Paul.
- 28:40You know, it's so amazing to see
- 28:44that we have such generous support
- 28:47and leadership from somebody who
- 28:49completed his residency at Yale.
- 28:51I was at Yale for medical
- 28:53school and residency,
- 28:54and I've often said that
- 28:57I love them both equally,
- 28:58which is something considering that
- 29:00our residency was put on probation
- 29:02a few times for overworking
- 29:03the residence when I was there.
- 29:05But I feel a bond for medical
- 29:07school and a bond for residency,
- 29:09and I think a lot of people do.
- 29:11And I think it's something in the
- 29:13alumni fund that we hope to work on
- 29:16going forward to really engage the
- 29:18residents who who went on to great
- 29:20careers and really learned how to do that.
- 29:22I always tell people the way I learned
- 29:24to be a doctor came from two sources,
- 29:26my father and Yale,
- 29:29New Haven Hospital,
- 29:31which didn't allow me to cut any quarters.
- 29:34And if I did, believe me,
- 29:36we didn't do it a second time.
- 29:39So I want to thank both Doctor Lucy
- 29:41and Doctor Tavarreau for helping us do
- 29:44such great work at the medical school.
- 29:46And I think we have a few minutes left
- 29:49for actually more than a few minutes for Q&A.
- 29:52Unless I'm forgetting to do something.
- 29:56So if you can ask your questions
- 30:00by raising your hands on Zoom,
- 30:03And I think because I'm so
- 30:05technically incompetent,
- 30:05I'm just going to let Amanda
- 30:08actually call on you in turn.
- 30:14Yeah, please feel free to use the
- 30:16raise hand function or you can
- 30:18pop your question in the chat.
- 30:19As I mentioned at the beginning,
- 30:21it's it's really nice if you're
- 30:23comfortable to have your camera
- 30:24off and ask a question to
- 30:26help with the conversation.
- 30:27But please feel free.
- 30:28The raise hand function,
- 30:30as I mentioned,
- 30:31is at the bottom of your screen
- 30:36under reactions.
- 30:38You should be able to find it there,
- 30:41or feel free to unmute and you
- 30:42can go ahead and ask your question
- 30:44now if if you'd like as well.
- 30:51Well, go ahead.
- 30:54That's one question. They with respect
- 30:58to students who are struggling
- 31:04without knowledge of resources.
- 31:07Is there a a program set up where a
- 31:12student in bad straights can be advised
- 31:18either within the Medical Center,
- 31:20outside of it how to get support?
- 31:22I'll give you an example.
- 31:25I had an interaction in the
- 31:27last year with a student who
- 31:30had some major dental problems,
- 31:34and when we discussed it he indicated
- 31:39he had no idea how to get care
- 31:43since he could not afford it,
- 31:45which appalled me.
- 31:48But it happened at a time when
- 31:51nobody that he had presented his
- 31:54problem to was aware, for example,
- 31:56that we had a dental clinic at Yelling
- 32:00Haven Hospital and a dental residency.
- 32:03And I thought to myself,
- 32:04who does he talk to?
- 32:06And I think Jesse had,
- 32:09I I would ask you,
- 32:12are there faculty members or
- 32:15members of your staff that are close
- 32:18enough to the students to be able
- 32:21to identify problems like that?
- 32:25Yes, I think it's really
- 32:28important to know that the
- 32:31student emergency fund which in
- 32:34part was funded by alums and and
- 32:39Doctor Tavro himself is accessible
- 32:42to all students who are experiencing
- 32:45need like you're describing.
- 32:47And the our Dean of students,
- 32:51John Francis Dean Vasquez who is
- 32:54our Dean of Student Diversity as
- 32:57well as Dean Mendt and missions
- 32:59and financial aid are all aware
- 33:02of this and able to help students
- 33:05access that fund when needed.
- 33:08Each student also has an advisor
- 33:10and now with our new coaching
- 33:13program they will have a coach as
- 33:15well who who students can share
- 33:16these types of needs with.
- 33:18So I I think we're going to see
- 33:20students perhaps coming forward
- 33:23more easily because they have so
- 33:26many ways to access this funding.
- 33:28But it has been used for dental
- 33:31procedures for emergency travel when if
- 33:33somebody has a sick family member or
- 33:36there's been a death in their family.
- 33:38And over the past year,
- 33:40we have used the student emergency
- 33:43fund to support students experiencing
- 33:46food insecurity.
- 33:47And that's been something that is very
- 33:50important to us and to our students.
- 33:55I will just add before.
- 33:57Oh, sorry, go ahead, Peter.
- 33:58Yeah. And I take it they're made aware
- 34:01of these resources. Are they, Jessica?
- 34:04Yes, yes. And I, you know,
- 34:07I think that before COVID,
- 34:09I don't think a lot of these
- 34:12things were posted on our websites.
- 34:14I think that and not that it
- 34:16has anything to do with COVID,
- 34:18but I feel like the team that really
- 34:20was optimizing the use of technology
- 34:23at the School of Medicine such as Zoom,
- 34:25also then went through all of
- 34:28our websites and realized how
- 34:30much was not listed there.
- 34:32So now the Student Emergency
- 34:34Fund is listed on the Diversity,
- 34:37Inclusion and Community Engagement
- 34:39and Active Equity website,
- 34:41which resides here in Harkness,
- 34:43the building where the students
- 34:45interface with medical administration
- 34:47and it's also listed on student affairs.
- 34:50It's talked about in the orientations
- 34:54and we have a number of student
- 34:56affinity groups as well who meet
- 34:59and and meet with our Dean for
- 35:01student Diversity to talk about all
- 35:03the resources that are available.
- 35:07And I'll add that you know under the alumni
- 35:10fund there are several designations as
- 35:11many of you know that you can choose from.
- 35:14And this is one of those designations.
- 35:15And I was just working with our finance
- 35:18office over the past couple days around this.
- 35:21And I'll add on to Dina Luzi's comments
- 35:24that you know when this was added to
- 35:28the alumni fund designation three years
- 35:30ago that first year we saw about $10,000
- 35:33worth of usage and in this last year,
- 35:35so just three years later,
- 35:37we've had over $42,000 worth of need
- 35:39being served to our students in that.
- 35:42So that really speaks to the need in
- 35:46this space. And I, we got some hands up.
- 35:49So thank you for your questions.
- 35:51I will start with you Harold.
- 35:52Yeah. Well, actually IA,
- 35:54couple of questions and Jessica
- 35:56answered One, I want to know
- 35:58what was happening with the
- 36:00The Hunger need program.
- 36:02So that's going good. And
- 36:05I have to say I'm really
- 36:07impressed with what you've done in
- 36:10preserving and maintaining the L system.
- 36:12And my other question,
- 36:14my question is, I just wanted to
- 36:16clarify for everyone,
- 36:18I think I'm correct that the
- 36:20giving year ends June 30th,
- 36:22not December 31st. Yes,
- 36:26that is correct. For tax purposes,
- 36:29a lot of people consider the
- 36:31giving through the calendar year,
- 36:32but our fiscal year ends June 30th,
- 36:35correct? Yeah,
- 36:36'cause that's that's the year that
- 36:38counts towards your reunion year,
- 36:42right? But the challenge
- 36:43that Doctor Tabro was talking
- 36:45about will end December 31st for
- 36:48calendar year end. It will. OK.
- 36:55All right, Christine. Hi.
- 36:58Thank you all for all the work you do.
- 37:01I was just wondering,
- 37:03are the residents made aware of the
- 37:06fact that they are automatically
- 37:08members of the Ayam and that
- 37:11they're eligible to be officers
- 37:13to be on the executive committee?
- 37:16Are they made aware of that?
- 37:19That is a great question, Christine.
- 37:20And if I may and can I call on
- 37:22you as our Director of Alumni
- 37:24Engagement to give a a brief update
- 37:26for Christine and others around
- 37:27where things are sitting there?
- 37:29Sure.
- 37:29We, we currently
- 37:31have been meeting with the chairs
- 37:33and the program directors for the
- 37:36different programs to sort of get a
- 37:38handle on the database and actually
- 37:39putting those people into Hopper,
- 37:41which is our database that
- 37:43we use for alumni affairs.
- 37:45I've been sort of informally calling
- 37:47people and writing people to let
- 37:48them know that they're alums.
- 37:50Some people know, some people don't,
- 37:51but it's a lot of excitement and energy
- 37:54from former alums who are fellows or
- 37:57residents at Yale and Yale affiliate
- 38:00hospitals about this opportunity.
- 38:02We are currently working with the team
- 38:04to also do a mailing early this year,
- 38:07year, next year, I should say 2024.
- 38:09So everyone's going to be basically informed
- 38:12that they now have these privileges,
- 38:14privileges and are part of Ayam are
- 38:17going to be getting a new updated
- 38:19alumni brochure that's going to
- 38:21be in print as well as digital.
- 38:23And we have about,
- 38:24I think about 2000 more people
- 38:26that were adding to the database,
- 38:28about 5000 residents and fellows
- 38:30have already been entered.
- 38:32So that work is actively in in
- 38:34progress and we should be hitting
- 38:362024 running and getting those
- 38:38people incorporated into the system.
- 38:41Thank you. Thanks a lot.
- 38:43And I do want to give a a shout out for
- 38:45Doctor Tabarro because he has been very
- 38:47instrumental in working and helping push
- 38:49that initiative as a a former resident alum.
- 38:52So you know in addition to his
- 38:54support of the alumni fund,
- 38:56he's really been an an advocate as it's
- 38:57we've been working to get this accomplished.
- 39:00So thank you again for that,
- 39:01Doctor Tabarro. I would love to,
- 39:03I would love to see more residents on
- 39:07the executive committee and I think it
- 39:10would just add a huge new dimension.
- 39:13We still have to do a lot
- 39:16of recruiting though.
- 39:17Thank you, Anne.
- 39:20Richard,
- 39:22Hello, thanks very much.
- 39:25And I wanted to quickly ask if we
- 39:29as agents could get a little bit of
- 39:31wording about this wonderful match
- 39:34that Paul has described to us so that
- 39:36we could sort of have something to,
- 39:40you know, speak directly to it when
- 39:42we write our little notes or call
- 39:45our call our designated students.
- 39:48The second thing is,
- 39:50I'm sure everybody has been aware
- 39:52of the mental health issues that
- 39:55have been going on for students and
- 39:58student involvement in in obtaining
- 40:01increased mental health assistance both
- 40:04within the colleges and the school,
- 40:07and if so, for those who have to leave
- 40:09school for one reason or another.
- 40:13One thing that was mentioned
- 40:15in the college aspect of was
- 40:18that the individual colleges,
- 40:21Pearson TD and whatnot.
- 40:24Could be a source for the sort of
- 40:27individual counseling and more sort
- 40:29of private type of conversation
- 40:31that needs to go on for people
- 40:33having difficulties what what is
- 40:36the planned or thought about for
- 40:38the medical school and particularly
- 40:41with the initiation of the colleges
- 40:44being able to you know incorporate
- 40:47these these needs into the the
- 40:50individual levels of our students.
- 40:54I can comment on that two.
- 40:57About two years ago we had a group
- 41:00of students come forward to speak
- 41:03with the Dean talking about the
- 41:06challenges in getting access to timely
- 41:09mental health care at Yale Health.
- 41:13I think what was happening at Yale
- 41:15Health and across the country at other
- 41:18schools is that there was a much more,
- 41:21a much larger demand for mental health
- 41:24care than many of the University
- 41:27Health services were able to meet.
- 41:29And so the Dean actually put together
- 41:32a group to put together that designed
- 41:36a new student mental health and
- 41:39Wellness program at Yale School of
- 41:42Medicine and it is now fully funded.
- 41:45We have a licensed clinical social worker,
- 41:49a clinical psychologist and a Wellness
- 41:53counselor that are dedicated to the
- 41:56students at the Yale School of Medicine.
- 41:58And so now students are able to get
- 42:01same day appointments when needed
- 42:03for counseling if they and they can
- 42:06continue to see these individuals you
- 42:09know for six times and then if they need
- 42:13longer care they get an easy referral
- 42:15to Yale Health because the the service
- 42:18acts as a referral entity as well.
- 42:21The other thing I'd point out
- 42:22is that they've developed a lot
- 42:25of Wellness programming that is
- 42:27essentially Co curricular.
- 42:29So it's helping support our students
- 42:31in the pre clerkship period.
- 42:32For example,
- 42:33when they're going through anatomy,
- 42:35the counselors come to meet students after
- 42:39the anatomy lab to have sessions to debrief.
- 42:43And then during clerkships,
- 42:45when things can become even, you know,
- 42:48stressful in a different way,
- 42:50there are sessions that they help
- 42:52hold with those students.
- 42:53And then again in preparing
- 42:55for applying to residency.
- 42:56So, you know,
- 42:59this was something that the LCME
- 43:01accrediting body wanted to hear about.
- 43:03And I know that many other schools
- 43:05are struggling to meet these needs.
- 43:06And I'm really proud that, you know,
- 43:09when we first did the survey,
- 43:11we had over 50% of students saying
- 43:14they were dissatisfied with the
- 43:16services provided at the School
- 43:17of Medicine two years ago.
- 43:19And now over 96% of students
- 43:22are reporting that they are
- 43:25satisfied or highly satisfied.
- 43:27It's something that I don't think any
- 43:29other medical school has yet accomplished.
- 43:31So it's something that we're really proud of.
- 43:34That sounds great. I'm sure Al,
- 43:36while is happy to hear that too,
- 43:38because as you know,
- 43:39our class had a particular experience
- 43:42with this 50 years ago and have sort
- 43:44of been tuned to this over the years.
- 43:47So thank you very much.
- 43:54And Richard, I'll add that you
- 43:55know Bridget is going to give
- 43:57a a brief update for the class
- 43:58agents right after this, but we'll
- 44:00absolutely have language to support
- 44:02you for outreach. Great. Thank you.
- 44:13Other questions.
- 44:22I have a question. Yes,
- 44:26go ahead. The questions
- 44:29about the Yale Journal
- 44:30of Biology and Medicine,
- 44:32is that part of the same philanthropic
- 44:38group that you're overseeing?
- 44:41Or when they reach out to us is,
- 44:44is that sort of a very separate entity?
- 44:47Is it under your umbrella?
- 44:49It is under medical education.
- 44:52The yes, and the Yale Journal for Biology
- 44:55and Medicine I would like to share has had
- 44:58an enormous increase in its readership.
- 45:01So, you know, back 30-40 years ago it
- 45:04was a printed version of the journal
- 45:06and so therefore had limited access.
- 45:09But now that it's published online and
- 45:12people can access it from all over the world,
- 45:16we get hundreds of thousands of
- 45:19people reading the articles that
- 45:22our students are publishing.
- 45:24And as you know,
- 45:25the students are the editors,
- 45:26not necessarily the writers.
- 45:28So we're getting submissions from
- 45:30all over the world and then we
- 45:32are publishing on different topics
- 45:34and our journal has actually had
- 45:36an increasing impact factor,
- 45:42which we are, we are all amazed by.
- 45:45It's such a great experience for our
- 45:47students to be able to kind of learn
- 45:49how articles are reviewed and published
- 45:51and determine whether or not the
- 45:54appropriate methods were used. You know
- 45:55it's it's a really great
- 45:57experience for the students.
- 46:00That's great. Thank you. May may I
- 46:03ask one other unrelated question
- 46:06that is if you could share with us
- 46:12approximately the number of students
- 46:17going into what some would consider to
- 46:21be a primary care training program.
- 46:23And I know that all internal medicine
- 46:26programs count as that and and most
- 46:28people training and I am do not
- 46:29go into primary care but I just.
- 46:31I just wonder how we're doing
- 46:33on on that front.
- 46:35I'm often asked that by
- 46:38classmates of of mine.
- 46:39So I just want to have an
- 46:41answer for them and you answer
- 46:43thank you. Yes. I
- 46:45don't have the exact numbers in front of me,
- 46:48but it it it's about 10% which I is
- 46:53much lower than other medical schools.
- 46:57The the school has, you know,
- 47:00acknowledged that this is lower
- 47:02than other medical schools and is
- 47:07kind of in the middle of debating
- 47:08whether or not we should try
- 47:10to change our focus here.
- 47:11I think what's happening in in
- 47:14that we have a required thesis,
- 47:17many students come here interested
- 47:19in becoming physician scientists
- 47:22and end up pursuing those
- 47:24paths toward academic medicine.
- 47:26But I think what we're trying to
- 47:28do is to point out that one can
- 47:32still pursue scholarship in academic
- 47:34medicine from a primary care
- 47:37vantage point like HealthEquity and
- 47:39really addressing the needs of our
- 47:42population in the United States.
- 47:44So I I think we're probably going
- 47:46to see that number increasing our
- 47:48our Department of General Internal
- 47:51Medicine has been increasing and
- 47:53producing more and more scholarship
- 47:55that's having an impact on the field.
- 48:00Yes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
- 48:23I know in my presentation I was
- 48:25only able to cover some of the
- 48:28items that we're very excited about.
- 48:30But if there are a couple minutes,
- 48:32I want to point out a few other
- 48:35things that we've been doing.
- 48:36One of them is to improve,
- 48:39as you saw with the slides,
- 48:41the teaching of anatomy really bringing
- 48:45technology into the classroom.
- 48:47The other thing though is that we're
- 48:50trying to improve the teaching of of
- 48:52anatomy across the whole four years.
- 48:54We were recently able to recruit new
- 48:57faculty from the departments of Pathology,
- 49:01Radiologic imaging and surgery to
- 49:04become associate course directors in
- 49:06anatomy so that students can learn
- 49:09about how anatomy is applied early on
- 49:12and begin to potentially even think
- 49:15about surgical careers for example.
- 49:18And then when the they go through
- 49:21their clerkships and they emerge
- 49:23out of the clerkships,
- 49:24we've created a new advanced
- 49:27surgical anatomy course.
- 49:29And that course was was funded by
- 49:34a generous donor who may or may not
- 49:38be on this call.
- 49:41But I understand that he'd been
- 49:44thinking about potentially
- 49:47asking his classmates to match
- 49:50funding to help us expand that.
- 49:53So we we we did the advanced surgical
- 49:56anatomy elective last year and
- 49:59held it for eight students with
- 50:01many surgical faculty involved.
- 50:03And so this is going back to the anatomy lab,
- 50:06working with cadavers, dissecting,
- 50:11you know, specimens like calf,
- 50:12calf hearts and such.
- 50:14Learning, learning some really
- 50:16advanced procedural skills.
- 50:18And we'd like to be able to offer that
- 50:22to more students and encourage more
- 50:25students to consider how anatomy can
- 50:27be applied in their future careers.
- 50:33Amanda, I didn't know if I was
- 50:34allowed to say his name. So
- 50:40no, I I appreciate you highlighting
- 50:41that because it again speaks to
- 50:43the impact of of our alumni and
- 50:45their philanthropy. So thank you.
- 50:47I know that was a very exciting
- 50:49thing this past year in in anatomy.
- 50:53Well thank you all so much for your
- 50:55time tonight. And class agents,
- 50:57we, we encourage you to stay
- 50:59behind for a very brief update and
- 51:01specifically directed for that.
- 51:04And we really applaud everybody
- 51:07for their generosity both of
- 51:09time and also financially.
- 51:13And thank you so much.
- 51:17Thank you so much.