Addressing Professionalism Concerns

Members of the School of Medicine community may choose to address unprofessional or disruptive behaviors directly with the person engaging in the behavior or to share their concerns with a supervisor or leader within their lab, program, section or department.

In some instance, the OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team recognizes that these approaches may not be viable alternatives given the nature of the unprofessional behavior, an individual’s discomfort with raising their concerns directly to the party engaging in the behavior or with others in their unit, or when prior efforts to address the behavior have been unsuccessful.

As a result, the OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team has implemented a system for confidential reporting, a process for identifying patterns (at the individual or unit level), and an approach to addressing unprofessional, disruptive or concerning behaviors.

Individuals have multiple options for reporting concerns about the behavior of Yale School of Medicine faculty. A report can be filed by any member of the School of Medicine community, including faculty members, members of the Yale School of Medicine clinical or research staff, students or trainees, or staff members.

• Contact the OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team by calling 203-785-2101, emailing oapd.acadprof@yale.edu or through the Professionalism Concern Reporting Form.
• Contact the Yale University Hotline at 877-360-YALE or through the Yale University online reporting form.
• If your concern relates to sexual misconduct or harassment, you may also raise it directly with one of the University’s Deputy Title IX Coordinators or contact SHARE.

Patient concerns about physician professionalism should be directed to the appropriate delivery network.

• The Yale Medicine Patient Advocacy Department 1-203-785-2140 or YMPatientAdvocacy@yale.edu.
• Yale New Haven Hospital Patient Relations: 203-688-3403 or patientrelations@ynhh.org.

The OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team will review reported concerns and take appropriate steps to address them. If you provide your name and contact information, a member of our team will contact you to discuss your concern, provide support, and outline possible appropriate options for moving forward.

Appropriate next steps may include:

• Consultation: Providing consultation support to the reporting party, section chief, or department chair on a strategy to remediate the unprofessional behavior or the circumstances that prompted the report.
  
  
• Fact-finding: As appropriate, conducting additional fact-finding regarding the allegations.
  
  
• Engagement: Depending on the nature of the concern or the role of the person reporting it, the OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team may engage with other university partners and departments such as the School of Medicine's Deputy Dean of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, or University Human Resources to help evaluate and address the concern.
  
  
• Referral: Some concerns are best addressed by the OAPD Academic Professionalism and Leadership Team’s professionalism partners, such as a Title IX Coordinator, the School of Medicine's Deputy Dean of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, or the University’s Office of Institutional Equity and Access. A concern may be referred to those university offices for resolution.