Kali Cyrus, MD, MPH, who will graduate from the Yale Department of Psychiatry Residency Program on June 23, will become Director of Standardized Patients (SP) at the Yale School of Medicine’s Teaching and Learning Center effective Aug. 1, the medical school has announced.
Cyrus will oversee, implement, and evaluate programs involving SPs – people trained to act as patients or family members so medical students can practice clinical skills like performing physical exams, taking history, or counseling.
Cyrus will be the point of contact for anyone at Yale School of Medicine who needs a SP. She may help write the medical scenario, and will assign the actors, train them to play the role, and oversee the session.
“Dr. Cyrus’ enthusiasm, experience and creative thinking will build on an already robust SP Program, leading to increasingly positive trainee learning outcomes,” TLC said in a statement.
Cyrus, who was Program-Wide Chief Resident in Psychiatry during her PGY-4 year, has extensive experience facilitating training sessions that use SPs to teach medical students.
Through her APA fellowship, she has funded and created SP scenarios that are used to explore complex psychosocial issues, like homelessness, transgender identity, and immigration.
Cyrus will also be on faculty at the Department of Psychiatry, and will be an outpatient treatment attending physician at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.