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.)
Restarting Clinical Rotations at Bridgeport Hospital
In July of 2023 we made the difficult decision to put a hold on sending Yale medical students to Bridgeport Hospital (starting July 1st for OB/GYN, Adult/Pediatric Primary Care, and Pediatrics, Inpatient Internal Medicine).
There were multiple concerns which necessitated this action. Briefly:
- Students lacked means of reliable and safe transportation to BP hospital.
- Some settings had an issue of overcrowding of learners.
- We continued to get negative reports about the learning environment.
- These issues raised concerns about the comparability of rotational experiences across our clinical sites.
Since the suspension of rotations, Deputy Dean Illuzzi has worked with leadership at Bridgeport Hospital to address these challenges. As a result of these efforts, Dean Illuzzi and the Bridgeport leadership have made significant progress in resolving these issues and we are now comfortable that this site is again suitable for our learners. We are very grateful to everyone who continues to work on these challenges with us.
In addition, we have come up with a proposal to address the travel issues to Bridgeport which are described in the following section.
Transportation Reimbursement Pilot for MD Clinical Rotations at Bridgeport Hospital
One of the concerns we have heard about MD Program clinical rotations in Bridgeport is the difficulty and expense of getting to and from Bridgeport. To address this concern, we are conducting a pilot, starting January 2nd, 2024. Class of 2026 MD students will be able to be reimbursed for certain travel expenses to and from rotations at Bridgeport Hospital, based on the following guidelines:
Transportation may occur via the following options and must include two or more students:
- Uber and Lyft, to include pickups of other rideshare students with rotations at Bridgeport Hospital.
- Yale University Zip-car rental (At this time, YSM will not reimburse for Zipcar memberships.)
- Carpools in student-owned cars (Students will receive mileage reimbursement at the rate of 65.5 cents per mile.)
Receipts must be saved and included in your request for reimbursement.
Reimbursement requests must include the:
- Name of student submitting payment for trip.
- Names of students who shared the ride.
- Starting location, any pickup locations, and the ending destination.
- Total cost of transportation (Uber/Lyft tips should be limited to 15%).
- Clerkship rotation, i.e., OB/Gyn, Psychiatry, etc.
- Date and starting/end time of travel.
To reduce administrative burden, receipts/requests should be submitted in aggregate at the end of each month to Matthew Costa. We anticipate that you will receive reimbursement by check within 4 weeks of submission.
You will receive additional information in the clerkship precede in January. We will evaluate the usefulness and cost of the pilot toward the end of the first rotation block and will provide an update.
Curriculum Mapping Update
As you’ve heard in previous announcements, YSM has adopted nine competencies, twenty-five Educational Program Objectives (EPOs), and three milestone statements for each EPO to correspond with each phase of the curriculum (pre-clerkship, clerkship, advanced training period). Simply stated, these are educational benchmarks of increasing specificity that learners should achieve at various points in the curriculum. “Mapping” is a process in which learning objectives (LOs) from teaching sessions are linked to overall competencies of an educational program. A team of faculty, students, and staff have invested countless hours over the past year to map our curriculum. This map is now available online – medicine.yale.edu/md-program/about/committees/curriculum_mapping. Each phase of the curriculum has a heat map to show you the extent to which each EPO is addressed in the course or session objectives for every part of the curriculum. You can use these heat maps to see relationships of educational components across our curriculum. Now that we’ve created a map, we have work to do to fill in missing data, consider what we can learn from looking at the map, and update the map as the curriculum changes from year to year. We are looking for M1s to get involved in committee work with the faculty and upper-level students who have already been engaged with this process. M1s who are interested in getting involved should contact their class MSC representatives.
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. For available office hours for current MS1 courses (i.e., Attacks and Defenses) please see the Year 1 section of this newsletter.
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 1st, 2023. As of October 1st, 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 1st, 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.
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.
Clerkship Evaluation Form Revised to Reflect Student Progress and Achievement of Educational Program Objectives (EPOs) & Milestones
On December 13th, 2023, the EPCC approved a new clerkship evaluation form that is based upon the students progress in meeting the EPOs tied to the clerkship and advanced training period milestones. The goal of this revision is to provide greater clarity for students of their development in meeting the milestones in the clerkship period. Students will be made aware of the form and its use in each of the clerkship precedes and clerkship component precedes in 2024.
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 8:00AM am to 5:00PM 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.