Welcome to the most recent edition of the “You said... We did...” newsletter! I am pleased to share updates about how we are responding to student suggestions for building an even more vibrant and enriching learning community for the MD Program at Yale School of Medicine (YSM).
We post past updates on the YSM LCME webpage, organized by topic.
Below is a list of the topics covered in this newsletter:
We are very excited to announce the start of phase 1 of renovations!
The renovations of the Harkness Gym and the Harkness Mezzanine level (where the old pool table sits) will begin on June 26. It is anticipated that the renovations will take approximately 10 weeks, with an expected completion date of September 1, 2023. Additionally, the CWML’s Historical Library and Morse Reading Room are being renovated, also starting June 26, and are expected to reopen in August.
During the renovations, the Harkness Gym will be closed, but we are pleased to provide free YNHH Livingwell Fitness Center memberships for the duration of the closure. If you would like to have access to the Livingwell Fitness Center, please complete this survey and then we will send you a link to sign up for the hospital fitness center. We have been informed that it can take one-to-two weeks to activate your fitness center badge, but the fitness center has assured us that you simply need to show your Yale ID and they will buzz you in if you are on the list.
Phase 2 of the renovations will include: new recreation space, new student space in Café Med, additional improvements in the Harkness Gym, and renovation of Spinelli Lounge. Stay tuned for more details!
The library has installed two more privacy booths on the lower level that are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. All three booths are now located on the E-Level in the study space near the Technology Support Service Center. (You can read more about the booths, as well as the renovations, in the latest issue of the CWML newsletter.)
Additionally, two rooms in the Admissions Office on the second floor of Harkness D are available for you to use for interviews or other important calls. These rooms, ESHD 210A and ESHD 210B, are being added to the EMS reservation system and will be available to reserve online.
We worked with hospital and resident leadership to give all students on clinical rotations ID badge access to the resident lounges (now called Trainee Lounges) starting on July 1 at both the York Street Campus (YSC) and St. Raphael Campus (SRC). We will stock the lounges with extra coffee, drinks, and snacks! Please remember that the sandwiches in the lounge are intended for those of you working on shifts when the cafeteria is closed.
YNHH leadership also invites all students to visit the Healing Garden on the seventh floor of Smilow Cancer Hospital. This is a site for respite and peace for anyone needing to get away for a bit from the busy clinical environment.
The YSC Trainee Lounge is on the 2nd floor of East Pavilion, and the SRC Trainee Lounge is located on the basement level under the main elevators.
We have labeled 16 new lockers for medical student use in the SRC Trainee Lounge on the basement level under the main elevators. Please bring your own lock or the one supplied by the Office of Curriculum and feel free to use a locker for the duration of your rotation at SRC. Your ID badge should work there beginning July 1!
We have installed 60 new lockers adjacent to the Clinical Skills Suite in the Harkness Basement. If students find these useful, we will install more. The Office of Student Affairs will be assigning lockers to incoming first years and to pre-clerkship second years. Don’t forget about all the lockers in the basement of Sterling Hall of Medicine, too.
Every clerkship and ATP student doing a rotation at YSC should have an assigned locker on the 3rd floor connecting bridge to the hospital. If not, please contact Susan Larkin or Francesca Torelli.
Being responsive to student feedback is very important to me, Dean Schwartz, and our new Director of Clerkships Shefali Pathy. Here are some important updates:
1. Based on student feedback about significant transportation challenges, crowding with other students in some primary care locations, and challenges in the learning environment in some settings, we have put a temporary hold on assigning medical students to Bridgeport Hospital starting July 1, 2023.
Dean Brown, Dean Schwartz, Dr. Pathy, and I will work very hard with the dedicated physicians and hospital leaders at Bridgeport to address these concerns. A member of YNHHS, Bridgeport Hospital is a high volume, community-based academic medical center staffed by outstanding physicians, many of whom trained in our own programs, and care deeply about your education and experience. They care for patients from across Bridgeport and Fairfield County, with a wide range of medical conditions and needs, and greatly enhance the teaching and experience of our students.
The Department of OB/GYN at Bridgeport has a new chair, Dr. Stephen Thung. Dr. Thung was a faculty member at YSM for several years and was a FAVORITE attending for both students and residents during that time. We are very excited to work with him, and with Dr. Victor Morris (chief medical officer) and Dr. Karen Hutchinson (chair, Department of GME and DIO), to optimize the experiences at Bridgeport Hospital. It is our hope for Yale medical students to return to Bridgeport by January 1, 2024.
2. We have requested that departmental leadership meet with students during all clerkships, so that they can hear about your experiences and how they can be even better.
3. It is important for all students to know that every time you confidentially share or anonymously report a concern about the learning environment, we take it seriously, determine an appropriate intervention, and then follow up. We are extraordinarily fortunate for Dean Brown’s leadership in creating the Office for Academic and Professional Development, which provides review, remediation, and follow-up on reported concerns regarding professionalism. (You can read more about how the medical school is handling reports of harassment, mistreatment, and bias in this past issue of You Said…We Did…)
4. The second years (soon to be third years!) successfully advocated for a hybrid, rather than fully in person, approach to the Precede for the July clerkship, and Dr. Pathy and Dean Schwartz were able to gain support from all clerkship component directors. Kudos to everyone!
Sincerely,
Jessica Illuzzi, MD, MS
Deputy Dean for Education Harold W. Jockers Professor of Medical Education
