Welcome from the Chairman

To All:

Welcome to Yale’s Department of Neurology website. There are many reasons for visiting our website. Some of you may be interested in Yale for continued training as a neurologist or scientist; others will visit because of neurologic problems in loved ones, searching for an answer. I wish to take a moment to provide an overview of our department and web site, so that we can direct you to sites that will be of assistance to you. Please visit us in New Haven, a vibrant college town with active theaters, museums, and music to visit for a day or stay for a career.

The Yale Neurology Residency Program combines historical strength in research with a dramatic expansion in clinical care over the past decade. We aim for the highest levels of clinical and academic excellence, and I encourage you to use this site to explore the vast opportunities available for potential trainees.

The mission of our Neurology Residency Program is to train the leaders in the field of neurologic disease. Our program is dedicated to the tailoring of training programs to the goals and aspiration of our residents. Areas of concentration for residents include:

• Medical Science. Providing an environment for physician-scientists such that if you have a MD/PhD, Yale University will be open to you such that when you are done, you will be prepared to write a NIH grant and to transition to a faculty position. Please visit the Research Tracks page for details. If you are not trained in science by are interested in a career as a physician scientist, Yale has a variety of options to provide you this postgraduate training, including a special PhD program for residents for you to explore (see Investigative Medicine website).
• Neurology Education. The current climate requires that educators need as much formal training and experience as possible to build an effective career. Discover the Clinician-Educator Scholar Track we have developed to provide future clinician-educators in neurology with the tools needed to build a career as a leader in neurology education.
• Healthcare Management. The Yale Department of Neurology has established a healthcare management track for residents who are interested gaining knowledge about the healthcare system and developing management skills. The goal of this track is to provide residents with the tools and knowledge they will need to become future leaders in our healthcare system.
• Global Health in Neurology. The goal of the global health track is to provide a longitudinal structured didactic and clinical global health experience for Yale Neurology Residents. Please click here to learn more.

The question often becomes whether I should leave the familiarity of my hometown to venture into a tertiary medical center with internationally renowned physicians that from the outside, may be perceived as a complex labyrinth. This depends upon the complexity of the problem facing you and your family. In many instances, we work with local physicians to provide education about the latest procedures for disease treatment, and a visit to New Haven may not be necessary. In other instances, it may be worth seeing a Yale physician either in New Haven or in one of our satellite clinics across the state in Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield, Milford, North Haven, Guilford, Old Saybrook, and New London. In some situations with acute neurologic emergencies, your loved ones may be transferred to our Neurology Intensive Care Unit, stroke service, or epilepsy service. Each offer highly specialized care and are some of the only inpatient services of their kind in the state of Connecticut. My own specialty is Multiple Sclerosis, where we are among the best MS Centers in the US. Our center is a place where new therapies are constantly being explored while providing caring physicians who understand how to treat MS.

Our clinical website will direct you to the physician who specializes in the problems facing you and your family.

With best wishes,
David A. Hafler, MD
Professor, William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Chair of Neurology