Recreation

Athletics and fitness

Many Yale PA students credit exercise as the best way to unwind after a long day in the anatomy lab or on the wards; for this, Yale's Payne-Whitney gymnasium, open to all students at no cost, offers a wide range of classes, squash and racquetball courts, indoor and outdoor running tracks, a par course, and two pools.

Harkness Memorial Hall also hosts its own smaller Harkness Gym facility, whose access is limited to students of the Yale School of Medicine and, like Payne-Whitney, is free for our students.

Yale's golf course is one of the top 100 courses in the country and the Sebastian Coe running track is reputed to be the fastest in the world.

The Outdoor Education Center, consisting of 1,500 acres in East Lyme, Connecticut, includes a trout pond, cabins and campsites, hiking trails, swimming, horseshoes, fishing, volleyball, cookouts, canoes, kayaks, rowboats, basketball, ping pong, and a picnic grove available for day trip or overnight stay.

In addition to use of Yale's world class athletic facilities, our students have free access to Yale collegiate sporting events.

More information on sports and recreation can be found on Yale's Living in New Haven website.

Music and Theater

New Haven's strong cultural and artistic traditions continue to thrive into the 21st century. The city boasts three world-renowned theater houses, including the Long Wharf Theater, the Yale Repertory Theater, and the historic Shubert Theater for Performing Arts where debuted such works as OKLAHOMA!, Carousel, A Streetcar Named Desire, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.

Broadway touring shows, the Connecticut Ballet Company, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and the abundance of artistic contributions of the University, such as the Yale Symphony, the Yale Chorale, and the Yale Glee Club, also offer an extraordinary caliber of musical and theatrical entertainment.

Museums

The City is also home to some of our nation's most impressive art collections (and with less crowd, at that): the Yale Art Gallery, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Mellon Art Gallery, and the Center for British Art.

Other Opportunities

In addition, the City sponsors a number of festivals, concerts, and open markets on the streets of New Haven. Attendees of the nationally renowned International Festival of Arts & Ideas flock to the City of New Haven's Town Green throughout the summer months, the town commons becoming an annual mecca for thousands of artists and tourists who travel to enjoy weekly concerts and other special events.

More information on the artistic offerings and traditions of the City of New Haven can be found in Yale's Living in New Haven Culture guide.

Yale's annual contribution to the City of New Haven helps to keep the 27 blocks surrounding the Town Green safe and clean.