We want to more broadly communicate changes that have been made to the curriculum as a result of student feedback. Therefore, among other news, this section includes updates on some of these changes. (We have not included all changes made in response to feedback, so that this section is not overwhelming.)
Course and Workshop Office hours
In response to student requests to be able to meet with faculty to discuss course and workshop content and cases outside of normal course hours, all courses will now hold office hours at regularly scheduled times. Available office hours for current MS1 and MS2 courses (Genes and Development, Professional Responsibility, Connections to the World, and Populations and Methods) and threads (i.e., Biochemistry) are published below in the Preclerkship Year 1 and Year 2 sections of this newsletter.
MCE/ILCE Language Changes
During the summer of 2023, with the launch of our new Longitudinal Coaching Program, we made two language changes related to MCE and ILCE. MCE had been Medical Coach Experience; it now is Medical Clinical Experience. In both ILCE (which stands for Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience) and MCE, the faculty preceptors went from being called coaches, to being called tutors.
Renovations
We are happy to announce that the Harkness Gym has reopened after its summer renovation. You can start using it again, 24/7. We appreciate your patience during the renovation and your help designing the space and guiding the equipment decisions. We hope you enjoy the new equipment, flooring, lighting, mirrors, air circulation, and finishes, as well as updated bathrooms and showers. (Please note, school-sponsored memberships at the hospital’s LivingWell facility expired on August 31st, now that we can use the Harkness Gym again.)
We also hope you also have a chance to check out the updated Morse Reading Room, the Historical Library, and the Mezzanine space above Café Med. The Mezzanine furniture is due to arrive later this month. Stay tuned for additional improvements!
Important Changes for Yale Students with Epic Access
Recent changes in MyChart and policies related to treating family members have led the University HIPAA Privacy Office to make corresponding changes to policies governing access to information in Epic. Specifically, the following are no longer allowed under Yale University’s HIPAA policies unless there is a legitimate Yale business purpose:
- Access to your own medical record other than via MyChart.
- Access to family member’s records other than in the limited contexts where Yale clinicians who are licensed to practice in Connecticut (i.e., MD, DO, PA, and APRN) may provide healthcare to family members in accordance with Yale policy or through MyChart proxy access.
These policy changes are described further below and will be effective October 1, 2023. As of October 1, 2023, Epic users employed by the University may access records only for legitimate Yale business purposes.
Accessing your own record directly in Epic is no longer allowable.
Implementation of Shared Notes under the 21st Century Cures Act has afforded patients with rapid access to their medical records directly in the MyChart patient portal. Under the 21st Century Cures Act, patient notes and test results are sent to MyChart and made available to patients with only limited exceptions as described in the rule. For example, if the note includes information related to another patient or family member, those notes may be withheld using the “do not share” function to protect that individual’s privacy. Accessing records directly in Epic circumvents these protections. For this reason, it is no longer appropriate to allow Epic users to review their own records directly in Epic without a Yale business purpose. Faculty, staff, and students may access their own medical records through MyChart. To sign up for MyChart, visit the Yale New Haven Health MyChart webpage.
Access to medical records is proactively monitored through our existing audit log monitoring software known as Protenus. Protenus continuously monitors user activity in Epic and other clinical systems and escalates a sample of suspicious activity to the HIPAA Privacy Office for review and investigation. Beginning April 1, 2024, access in violation of the revised HIPAA policies will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination as described in HIPAA Policy 5020 Disciplinary Policy for Violations of the Privacy or Security of Protected Health Information.
For additional information, a training video regarding the changes is available at Epic Self-Access Prohibition or review the announcement email from Yale Office of Public Affairs and Communications. For further information on Yale’s HIPAA policies, visit hipaa.yale.edu.
New College System
Yale School of Medicine has introduced a new “college system” this fall to be able to provide an inclusive and well-supported learning community. The YSM colleges incorporate six academic advisors in the Office of Student Affairs and three Longitudinal Coaches per college.
All YSM students are assigned to a college by their academic advisor. After a widespread invitation, we are actively organizing residents, fellows, faculty, and alumni who will support and participate with each respective college. We aspire for each college to function as a home base where students can form connections with classmates, near peers, and faculty, who will facilitate greater access to structured mentorship, learning support, coaching, and advising. Social gatherings, activities, and events will support community building, teamwork, and inclusion, as well as collegial discussion, sharing of ideas, and reflection.
Each college will have a student representative who will serve on the Medical Student Council to represent the interests of their college. These students will apply for the position and be selected for their role. The colleges are currently in the process of being named, but since this is such an important process, the school is taking time to get it right. In the meantime, each college is represented by a color and that will be incorporated into the future identity of the college. Please look out for an invitation to kick off events and future events for your college in order to meet classmates, near peers, faculty, residents, fellows, and alumni.
The colleges are affiliated by color and academic advisors/coaches are as follows:
We are excited to pioneer this new school initiative with your help! If you have any questions about the colleges please contact Associate Dean John Francis.
Reporting and Investigating Mistreatment
We appreciate all students attesting that they are aware of the procedure for reporting mistreatment, as described in Yale School of Medicine’s updated Mistreatment and Harassment Policy and Procedure for Reporting Mistreatment and Harassment. We created pocket cards, which can attach to lanyards, with details about how to report unprofessional behavior—and also how to highlight outstanding professional behavior. If you did not receive your pocket card, you can pick one up on the table by the elevator in the Office of Curriculum on the 3rd floor of Harkness.
We also have hung up posters around the YSM campus with a QR code that takes you to resources for support, including mechanisms for reporting mistreatment or harassment. Additionally, we added Report a Professionalism Concern and Submit an Accolade links to multiple medical education webpages.
As a reminder, the main venue to report professionalism concerns, including observed incidents of mistreatment, harassment, or other unprofessional behavior, to YSM is through the Office of Academic and Professional Development (OAPD). Individuals may choose among several methods to report to OAPD:
- Visit medicine.yale.edu/oapd and use the “Report a Professionalism Concern” button that links to a form that gathers information for identified, confidential, and/or anonymous reporting with a built-in notification system monitored by OAPD. Links are provided on prominent landing pages on OAPD, medical education, DEI, and faculty web domains.
- Call their direct phone number (203)785-2101 or email oapd.acadprof@yale.edu that is monitored daily by OAPD.
- Contact the Yale University Hotline by submitting an online report or calling (877)360-YALE. The Hotline is managed by an external vendor and allows for identified, confidential, and/or anonymous reporting and facilitates information sharing with OAPD or other relevant university offices.
Confidentiality is emphasized as a critical component of this process. Another priority is keeping anyone who submits a report (non-anonymously) informed of the outcome.
Competencies, Educational Program Objectives (EPOs), & Milestones
YSM’s nine competencies frame our goals for the knowledge, skills, and attributes that we aim for YSM students to attain prior to graduation. The associated EPOs describe the components of each competency and guide our curricular learning objectives. Each EPO has measurable or observable milestones, which students should demonstrate by the end of each phase of their medical education: preclerkship, clerkship, and advanced training period. (For first-year students, an electronic dashboard, and longitudinal coaches, will help you track your progress.)
You can see the details of the competencies, EPOs, and milestones on this website and in this booklet. We also have created posters displaying the competencies and EPOs, with a QR code which takes you to the website showing the milestones. We have placed the posters in classrooms and other campus spaces to help you become more familiar with the competencies, EPOs, and milestones.
In 2023, the learning objectives for every course and clerkship in the YSM MD Program curriculum were mapped to the new EPOs by the new Mapping and Integration Subcommittee of the EPCC. This process has identified potential gaps or redundancies in content and determined where new assessment tools are needed for students to monitor their progress in meeting the YSM milestones for each phase.
Curriculum Improvements in Clinical Skills (CS) Course
The CS faculty team has introduced new teaching methods into the preclerkship curriculum this year. In response to past feedback, we have created more opportunities to do detailed case review and offer individualized feedback about students’ clinical reasoning skills. Don’t worry – Dr. Thilan Wijesekera’s large group discussions are still a highlight! On top of those, we’ve added 1:1 case discussions and small group self-directed learning sessions, both of which mimic activities that occur during clerkship rounds. We have also added sessions inspired by student champions. Examples include a session on working with adults with intellectual disabilities and another session on working with immigrants.
Curriculum Improvements in Anatomy
As a result of student feedback, this year we have implemented the following changes:
- Have added three new associate directors to the course from Surgery, Pathology and Biomedical imaging to provide more opportunities for guidance during dissection and to recruit additional specialty faculty to assist during dissection sessions.
- Moved the primary resource for anatomy materials from iBooks to the Guided Anatomy website.
- Have added more system video by region, as with extremities.
- Are providing weekly notes to the class for most weeks of the course, indicating upcoming plans, assignments, and opportunities.
- Offering frequent weekly office hours including Practice Practical Exams, when appropriate. There are also Practice Written exams.
- Have increased participation by specialty clinicians and TAs for labs.
- Pelvic hemi-section is now optional since it has been taxing for some students.
- Participation at the end of select labs by the YSM Mental Health and Wellness team, Sundari Birdsall, Lisa Ho, and Officer Rich Heidi.
- Piloting the use of HoloLens headsets and Anatomy-X with student and faculty groups this summer, in anticipation of integrating these experiences into anatomy instruction and dissection this year.
Pharmacology Aids for the Preclerkship and Clinical Phases of the Curriculum
Students on the clerkships have made us aware that they do not always feel confident in their pharmacology knowledge. Based upon preclerkship assessments and faculty feedback in the clinical years we feel that student knowledge of the fundamental pharmacologic principles is sound. However, it is understandable that being facile with choosing medications to treat patients in the clinical environment can be a daunting challenge. As a result of this feedback, the leadership of the Pharmacology thread, Drs. DiGiovanna and Turk, have created two documents to aid students with their engagement with pharmacology content and clinical application in the preclerkship and clinical phases of the curriculum.
The first document is a catalog of pharmacology topics in the pre-clerkship curriculum for pre-clerkship students as well as Course and Thread Leaders. This roadmap that identifies where in the curriculum drugs and classes of drugs are being taught. Clerkship students may find this to be a useful glossary for re-visiting pre-clerkship materials when needing a refresher.
The second document provides lists, that have been provided by clerkship directors, of some of the most commonly encountered drugs in each clerkship. Generic and common brand names are listed, as we are aware that in clinical settings either of those names might be used. At the end there is an Appendix, with some additional clerkship-specific guides for pharmacologic management of specific conditions. We have asked course directors to review these lists, to see if there are drug classes highlighted as particularly important in clerkships, that may be in the domain of course or thread content area, so that they can ensure that they cover those adequately.
We hope these will be useful to faculty and students. Please give us any feedback you might have so that in the future we can make further improvements.
Addressing the Inappropriate Use of Race in the Curriculum
We wanted to again share our response to student concerns about presentations of the role of race in preclerkship courses when discussing the mechanisms and treatment of disease. At the start of the curriculum in iPro, we set expectations that curricular discussions of race-related mechanisms of disease would focus on race as a social, not biological, construct. We recognize that at various times during the curriculum, race is presented as a biological construct. In an effort to address this ongoing issue, we are piloting several steps during the Homeostasis course to make faculty aware when text in their slides or notes use terms commonly considered to refer to race so that they consider if these references are appropriate, and if so, that the discussion of race acknowledges its relevance as a social and not biological construct. We are taking several steps to assist faculty in meeting this standard.
- We are providing lecture and workshop faculty with a toolkit developed at UCSF, Antiracism and Race Literacy - A primer and toolkit for medical educators to review. We are asking faculty to particularly focus on Step 3 with definitions and a framework for addressing issues of race.
- The Office of Curriculum (OoC) and Health Equity Thread leadership are reviewing course slides, cases, and notes using keywords such as Asian, African American, Black, etc. to identify slides or references that may be related to race. When found, the lecture or workshop leader will be alerted to ensure that these references are appropriate, are evidenced-based, and use “race” as a social, not biological or genetic, construct.
- We are asking course directors and other course faculty to alert the OoC to any instances of the inappropriate use of race that might have slipped through this review process or occurred as a result of discussions in the classroom.
- Dr. Dr. Beverley Sheares, the Director of the Health Equity Thread (HET), has created a short video that can be used for faculty development to prepare them for discussions of race in relation to the mechanisms and treatment of disease and as a social, not biological, construct. This video could be included in the materials that all medical education faculty are required to view and attest to annually.
- Prior to participation in course sessions, all faculty receive links to the video developed by Dr. Beverley Sheares and to the Inclusive Language Initiative (see description below) for review.
- We encourage students to speak to any of the deans or Dr. Beverley Sheares of the HET with any concerns related to curricular issues in the presentation or representation of race or gender in the curriculum so that we are able to address them and prevent future occurrences. We are proud to inform all students, staff, and faculty of the School of Medicine about the official release of the YSM Inclusive Language Initiative. The Office of Curriculum in conjunction with the Health Equity Thread are dedicated to providing an inclusive learning environment where all students, faculty, and staff feel recognized and respected. As part of this commitment, the Inclusive Language Initiative sought to provide a glossary generated by a committee of faculty, staff, students, and community partners who have aimed to provide a resource to facilitate learning across the medical school. It is also intended to provide a shared mental model for students and faculty to be able to engage in scientific and patient care discussions.
Please feel free to reach out to me, Associate Dean Michael Schwartz, with concerns or additional ideas of how to address these issues.
Inclusive Language Initiative
We are proud to inform all students, staff, and faculty of the School of Medicine about the official release of the YSM Inclusive Language Initiative. The Office of Curriculum in conjunction with the Health Equity Thread are dedicated to providing an inclusive learning environment where all students, faculty, and staff feel recognized and respected. As part of this commitment, the Inclusive Language Initiative sought to provide a glossary generated by a committee of faculty, staff, students, and community partners who have aimed to provide a resource to facilitate learning across the medical school. It is also intended to provide a shared mental model for students and faculty to be able to engage in scientific and patient care discussions.
Language, like science, is not static and changes as we learn more and validate our findings with others. The current glossary is intended to be a living document that will be reviewed and evaluated periodically to ensure that it continues to meet its intended mission.
We encourage you to read the forward on the YSM Inclusive Language Initiative describing the goals, philosophy, and guiding principles the committee used to create the Inclusive language Glossary. There is also a link at the bottom of the webpage for providing commenting and formative input. We are grateful to Drs. Jaideep Talwalkar and Beverley Sheares for their skillful and visionary leadership of the initiative and to the many individuals that you will see acknowledged on the website for their tireless and passionate contribution to this initiative.
Please feel free to reach out to me, Associate Dean Michael Schwartz, with concerns or additional ideas of how to address these issues.
Locations to Join Zoom Meetings, Do an Online interview, or Take a Phone Call
The Cushing Whitney Medical Library has three privacy booths on the E-Level in the study space near the Technology Support Service Center, that are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. We have received positive feedback about these being a useful resource!
Additionally, two rooms in the Admissions Office on the second floor of Harkness D are available for you to use for interviews or other important calls. These rooms, ESHD 210A and ESHD 210B, are available to reserve in the RRS reservation system. After you reserve the room online, you will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your email. Although this email will say “confirmation” on the top, the room is not confirmed until you receive a second email that says “web confirmed.” Please note: the second floor only is accessible Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, so rooms should only be booked during these times.
2023-2024 YSM Academic Calendar for the MD Program
The 2023-2024 academic calendar for the YSM MD program is now available for download here.
Walking Maps
If you need to find your way around the Yale New Haven or Saint Raphael hospitals, walking maps can be found at Yale New Haven Hospital Walking Maps.