Office of Admissions
Harkness Hall, ESH 219
367 Cedar Street
New Haven, CT 06510
USA

Email to Admissions

Admissions phone
203.785.2643

The curriculum

First year curriculum

Second year curriculum

Third and fourth year curriculum

Clinical clerkships

Course schedules

The senior thesis

Third-Year and Fourth-Year Curriculum

Required Clinical Clerkships

Internal Medicine
Surgery and the Surgical Subspecialties
Pediatrics
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Psychiatry
Clinical Neuroscience
Primary Care
Integrated Clinical Medicine

12 Weeks
12 Weeks
8 Weeks
6 Weeks
6 Weeks
4 Weeks
4 Weeks
4 Weeks
4 Weeks

The clinical experience consists of direct patient care under the supervision of house staff and faculty attending physicians for patients with a wide variety of illnesses, supplemented by ward rounds and group conferences. The Internal Medicine Clerkship consists of eight weeks devoted to ward medicine and one month in the ambulatory setting. The Surgery Clerkship includes six weeks devoted to General Surgery and six weeks split among any three of the surgical subspecialties, which include anesthesiology, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, pediatric surgery, peripheral vascular surgery, plastic surgery, transplant surgery, and urology.

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship consists of three weeks of Obstetrics and three weeks of Gynecology, with some exposure to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Subspecialties, including maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, and reproductive endocrinology. Patient evaluation is the central experiential and didactic core of the Psychiatry Clerkship. On the Pediatric Clerkship, students divide their time between ward rotations and an outpatient experience. The Clinical Neuroscience Clerkship incorporates neurosurgery, neurology, and ophthalmology.

The overall goal of the Primary Care Clerkship is to provide students with an opportunity to acquire knowledge and develop clinical and interpersonal skills applicable to both primary care and the broad realm of practice in the ambulatory setting. For the purposes of this clerkship, primary care refers to a type of medicine that emphasizes point of first contact between doctor and patient; health maintenance including disease prevention and acute and longitudinal care; disease prevention - a general as opposed to a specialized approach; coordination of specialized care; and practice in the ambulatory setting. A second goal is to offer a stimulating and resourceful learning environment in which students approaching graduation can identify and pursue educational goals relating to their own needs, interests, and career objectives. To this end, the Primary Care Clerkship emphasizes sharing between experienced practitioners and students, both one-on-one and in small groups.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the clerkship schedule is divided into two main parts: patient care at a practice site on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and group sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. At the practice site, students are assigned a principal preceptor with whom they meet at the beginning for orientation, in the middle and at the end of the clerkship for feedback.

Designed as an "intellectual capstone course" and conceived in the context of the Yale System of Education, Integrated Clinical Medicine: The Biological, Social, and Behavioral Bases of Clinical Medicine provides an opportunity for graduating students to come together in April before leaving for internships and residencies.

The course has two goals:

To incorporate basic science knowledge and a clear integration of the social and behavioral sciences in the curriculum
To promote professional development by encouraging a broad view of health and the provision of health care, including relationships between patients, providers, and the communities in which they live and work.

The course employs intensive clinical case study, small groups and large lecture formats, and independent research with group decision making and consensus. A large component of the course focuses on preparatory skills for the internships, including teamwork, survival skills, and research methods. Mini-electives and clinical placements in the community together with social activities are offered to enhance the overall experience.

The third year is devoted almost entirely to clinical clerkships with fifty-two weeks of study in clerkships required for graduation. Each student must satisfactorily complete the clerkships listed above (except Integrated Clinical Medicine) by the last day of Block III of the fourth year. Please note that the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology strongly suggests that students complete that rotation in the third year.

Students work with a clinical adviser throughout their third and fourth years to plan their educational and career goals and objectives. At the end of the third year, all students review their fourth-year plan with their clinical adviser. In addition to Integrated Clinical Medicine, the Primary Care Clerkship is generally completed during the fourth year. Most students also take a number of clinical electives, including a subinternship in some clinical discipline. The residency application process and completion of the thesis are also major activities of the fourth year.