What students say

On the first-year curriculum: Keval Desai“It’s great to have pathology along with the basic sciences; I think it helps us when we go into the hospital and we’re shadowing people. … A significant difference in the Longitudinal Clinical Experience was being with students from the nursing school and Physician Associate Program. They brought so much knowledge.”

On the first-year curriculum: Carrie Flynn“To be a first-year medical student and learning about real diseases that affect real people—that was very exciting. It kept me engaged and motivated. The first year of medical school is all about adjusting to the volume of information you’re learning. It really is like learning how to drink through a fire hose.”

On the first-year curriculum: Constance Zou“Many students have their own styles of learning, their unique sets of talents and passions. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can become competent in the future, when patient management assumes such an important role. I also think about how I can most effectively take control of my own development. The new curriculum is set up so that I have to learn both pathology and clinical skills at the same time. This has increased the amount of information that we need to know, but the Yale system allows me the freedom to pursue topics that I love in depth and to learn at a comfortable pace.”

On the third-year curriculum: Erin Feeney“I had a lot of really great experiences with clinical teams. I worked with residents who were very enthusiastic about teaching, and I think that it makes a world of difference to have good teachers on your team. No matter how you change the external structure of the curriculum, it really comes down to whom you’re working with in the clinic.”

On the third-year curriculum: Charuta Gavankar“The integration of ob/gyn and pediatrics clerkships—I really enjoyed that. At one point, we had a woman who delivered at 18 weeks, and the baby was going to the NICU. I got to see the delivery, watch the neonatal resuscitation, and then follow the patient the next couple of weeks. It was an incredible way to see medicine.”

On the third-year curriculum: Paula Wu“The precedes are incredibly thorough, thoughtful, and information-rich. One of the best precedes was for the internal medicine clerkship. Dr. Mark Siegel and Dr. Michael Bennick talked about what it means to care for your patients and how to perform a high-quality history and exam, which really set the tone for our clerkship. The precedes helped to ground the entire experience—they reminded us of why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

On the third-year curriculum: Emily Yin“They’ve done a good job integrating the clerkships and giving the class an opportunity to come together throughout the clerkship year, where traditionally everyone is spread out.”