Yale School of Medicine explained

Yale School of Medicine
Free Label:Dean
Faculty:5,419[1]
Country:US
Students:1,840

The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813.[1] It is the sixth-oldest medical school in the United States.[2]

The school’s faculty clinical practice is Yale Medicine. Yale School of Medicine has a strong affiliation with its primary teaching hospital, Yale New Haven Hospital and the Yale New Haven Health System. The school is home to the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library, which is one of the country’s largest modern medical libraries and is known for its historical collections.

The faculty includes 31 National Academy of Sciences members,[3] 50 National Academy of Medicine members,[4] and nine Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators/professors.[5] Yale School of Medicine faculty have also received various international awards for their scientific discoveries, impactful research, and professional achievements. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to seven current or former faculty members, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to two faculty members.[6]

For the class of 2028, the school received 5,669 applications to fill 104 seats in the MD Program. The median GPA for the class was 3.94, and the median MCAT score was 521.[1]

Education

Yale School of Medicine educates future leaders in medicine and biomedical science. Since 1839, medical students have written a thesis based on original research, reflecting that the scientific process of investigation, observation, interpretation of data, and critical evaluation of literature are fundamental to the practice of medicine.[1]

Many medical students take a tuition-free fifth year to pursue additional study, conducting in-depth research or exploring clinical electives and sub-internships.[7] A significant number are awarded fifth-year research fellowships and earn the Master of Health Science degree.[8]

Each year, approximately 20 students enroll in the school’s MD-PhD Program, one of the original Medical Scientist Training Programs established and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[1] Graduate students in the combined program in the Biomedical and Biological Sciences earn a PhD degree through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. YSM residents, fellows, and faculty, as well as individuals from other institutions, can earn a two-year Master of Health Science degree. The Yale School of Medicine also offers joint degree programs with other professional schools, including Public Health, Law, Management, Engineering & Applied Science, and Divinity.[9]

YSM’s campus-based Physician Associate (PA) Program, one of the oldest PA programs in the country, trains students to become compassionate, high-quality, patient-centered PAs.[10]

Yale System

The school employs the "Yale System" established by YSM Dean Milton Winternitz in the 1920s,[11] wherein first- and second-year students are not graded or ranked among their classmates. In addition, course examinations are anonymous and are intended only for students' self-evaluation. Student performance is thus based on seminar participation, qualifying examinations (if a student fails, it is his/her responsibility to meet with a professor and arrange for an alternative assessment—passing grades are not released), clinical clerkship evaluations, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Prior to graduation, students are required to submit a thesis based on original research.

Rankings

For 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Yale School of Medicine as a Tier 1 medical school in Best Medical Schools: Research, as a Tier 3 school in Best Medical Schools: Primary Care, tied for No.33 in Most Diverse Medical Schools, No.90 in Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas, No.169 in Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care, and tied at No.161 in Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas.[12] The school ranked fourth for NIH research funding in 2023 as reported by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.[13]

History

In 18th-century United States, credentials were not needed to practice medicine. Prior to the founding of the medical school, Yale graduates would train through an apprenticeship to become physicians. Yale President Ezra Stiles conceived the idea of training physicians at Yale and ultimately, his successor Timothy Dwight IV helped found the medical school.[14] The school was chartered in 1810 and opened in New Haven in 1813. Nathan Smith (medicine and surgery) and Benjamin Silliman (pharmacology) were the first faculty members. Silliman was a professor of chemistry and taught at both Yale College and the medical school. The other two founding faculty were Jonathan Knight, anatomy, physiology and surgery, and Eli Ives, pediatrics.[15]

One of Yale's earliest medical graduates was Dr. Asaph Leavitt Bissell of Hanover, New Hampshire, who graduated in 1815, a member of the school's second graduating class. Following his graduation, Dr. Bissell moved to Suffield, Connecticut, a tobacco-farming community where his parents had lived and where he practiced as a country physician for the rest of his life. The saddlebags that Dr. Bissell carried in his practice, packed with paper packets and glass bottles, are today in the school's Medical Historical Library.[16] In 1916, a little more than a century after its founding, Yale School of Medicine admitted its first female students. At the time, this stood in marked contrast to the ethos of other institutions such as Harvard, which considered it “unladylike” for women to attend medical school at the time. The three women admitted to the Class of 1916 were exceptional—unlike their male counterparts, who needed only two years of college education, they were required to hold a college degree, and a quota further restricted the number of women who were admitted.[17]

Throughout its history, Yale School of Medicine faculty have been credited with seminal scientific discoveries. Pediatrician Martha May Eliot, MD, who was recruited to Yale by Edwards A. Park, MD, chair of the medical school’s first Department of Pediatrics, are together credited with developing a cure for rickets in 1925.[18]

Early in 1942, Louis S. Goodman, MD, and Alfred Gilman, PhD, assistant professors in Yale’s new Department of Pharmacology, began to study nitrogen mustard, an agent that was derived from a lethal gas used in the trenches of World War I. Building on research that had languished for years, the two young scientists found in a derivative of mustard gas the first effective chemotherapy for cancer.[19]

In 1998, Charles Janeway, MD, Yale Cancer Center immunologist, established and proved his theory of innate immunity.[20]

In the 1960s, Louis Gluck, MD, a member of the Department of Pediatrics faculty, created the first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In the late 1970s, William Tamborlane, MD, and the late Robert Sherwin, MD, transformed the treatment of type 1 diabetes by developing the insulin pump.[21]

Research led by Yale School of Medicine endocrinologist Kevan Herold, MD, resulted in the Food and Drug Administration's approval in 2022 of teplizumab (Tzield®), a medication that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes—marking the first treatment to change the course of this autoimmune disease since the discovery of insulin in 1922.[22]

In the field of psychiatry, following pioneering research led by Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist John Krystal, MD, and his colleagues Dennis Charney, MD, and Ronald Duman, PhD, the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2019 a nasal spray called esketamine, derived from ketamine (an anesthetic with rapid-acting effect), for treatment-resistant depression.[23]

The original building (at Grove and Prospect) later became Sheffield Hall, part of the Sheffield Scientific School (razed in 1931). In 1860, the school moved to Medical Hall on York Street, near Chapel (this building was razed in 1957). In 1925, the school moved to its current campus, neighboring the hospital. This campus includes the Sterling Hall of Medicine (erected in 1925),[24] Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine (1991, designed by Cesar Pelli),[25] [26] Anlyan Center (2003, designed by Payette Associates and Venturi Scott Brown)[27] and the Amistad Building (2007, designed by Herbert Newman)).[28]

On March 28, 2022, Jamie Petrone-Codrington, a former administrator pled guilty to fraud and tax charges for the theft of over $40 million dollars of computer and electronic software.[29] Jamie Petrone-Codrington illegally bought and sold hardware purchased for the School of Medicine, starting in 2013. According to the court records, Petrone-Codrington was turned in by an anonymous tip after being seen loading computer equipment into her private vehicle, and after ordering high volumes of equipment.[30] [31]

Clinical Affiliations

An affiliation agreement between the medical school and Grace-New Haven Community Hospital in 1965 created Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), which expanded in 1993 with the opening of the Children’s Hospital, and again in 2000 with the acquisition of the Psychiatric Hospital.[32]

In 1999, an affiliation agreement was established between the medical school and Yale New Haven Health System. The two institutions collaborate to provide clinical care, undergraduate and graduate medical education, and to facilitate clinical research.[1]

In 2009, the 14-story Smilow Cancer Hospital opened, and in 2012 YNHH acquired the Hospital of Saint Raphael, adding 533 beds and making it one of the largest hospitals in the United States.[1]

The medical center has grown over the years to include the institutions listed below.

The affiliated VA Connecticut Healthcare System, located in West Haven, maintains clinical, research, and education programs in conjunction with many medical school departments. The Department of Psychiatry collaborates with the Connecticut Mental Health Center to provide recovery-oriented mental health services for thousands of people in the Greater New Haven area each year.[33]

Deans

Before 1845, there was no dean. Nathan Smith, followed by Jonathan Knight, provided leadership in the early years. Thereafter, physicians of various specialities have served as dean of the medical school:[34]

Notable faculty

Current

Past

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: YSM History, Mission, Facts & Figures . Yale School of Medicine . 2 January 2025.
  2. Web site: About Yale School of Medicine . Yale School of Medicine . Yale University . 25 March 2020.
  3. Web site: Member Directory . National Academy of Sciences . 2 January 2025.
  4. Web site: General Directory . National Academy of Medicine . 2 January 2025.
  5. Web site: People . Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
  6. Web site: National and International Award Recipients . Yale School of Medicine . 2 January 2025.
  7. Web site: Clinical Electives at Yale . Yale School of Medicine.
  8. Web site: MD-Master of Health Science Degree (MD-MHS) . Yale School of Medicine.
  9. Web site: Joint MD Programs . Yale School of Medicine.
  10. Web site: Physician Associate Program . Yale School of Medicine.
  11. Calott Wang . Dora . August 2020 . The Yale System at 100 Years . Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine . 93 . 3 . 441–451 . 32874151 . 7448392 .
  12. Web site: Yale University . usnews.com . . 22 January 2025.
  13. Web site: BRIMR Rankings of NIH Funding in 2023 . Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
  14. Book: Falvey . Kerry L . Medicine at Yale : the first 200 years . November 2, 2010 . New Haven, Conn. : Yale University in association with Yale University Press, c2010. . 9780300167306.
  15. Book: Burrow . Gerard N. . A history of Yale's School of Medicine passing torches to others . October 24, 2007 . New Haven : Yale University Press, c2002 . 0300092075.
  16. Web site: When house calls were horse calls . Yale School of Medicine.
  17. Web site: A century of women in medicine at Yale . Yale School of Medicine.
  18. Parry . Manon S. . Tedeschi . Sara K. . Martha May Eliot: “Spinster in Steel Specs, Adviser on Maternity” . American Journal of Public Health . Aug 2004 . 94 . 8. 1322 . 1448446 .
  19. Web site: From the field of battle, an early strike at cancer . Yale School of Medicine.
  20. Web site: YCC Timeline of Accomplishments . Yale School of Medicine.
  21. Web site: Insulin Pump Changes Diabetes Treatment . Yale School of Medicine.
  22. Web site: Type 1 Diabetes Drug, Teplizumab, Has Additional Benefits, New Study Shows . Yale Medicine.
  23. Web site: How Ketamine Drug Helps with Depression . Yale Medicine.
  24. Collins . William F. . 1991-09-01 . The Sterling Hall of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine . Journal of Neurosurgery . en-US . 75 . 3 . 489–490 . 10.3171/jns.1991.75.3.0489. 1869956 .
  25. Web site: Cesar Pelli, 19262019 . 2024-07-08 . yalealumnimagazine.org . en.
  26. Web site: The People Behind the Plaques . 2024-07-08 . medicine.yale.edu . en.
  27. Web site: A new space for science . 2024-07-08 . medicine.yale.edu . en.
  28. Web site: New building on Amistad Street: a place "where great science is done" . 2024-07-08 . medicine.yale.edu . en.
  29. News: Vigdor . Neil . 1 April 2022 . Former Yale Official Admits to $40 Million Fraud Scheme . 16 April 2024 . The New York Times.
  30. Web site: Uwanamodo . Muna . Former Yale employee pleads guilty as courts uncover $40 million fraud plot . 2024-04-16 . www.thedp.com . en-us.
  31. News: Qu . Hannah . Former School of Medicine administrator pleads guilty to stealing $40 million from the University . . 2022-03-28 . 2022-04-01 .
  32. Web site: History and Heritage . Yale New Haven Health.
  33. Web site: Connecticut Mental Health Center . Yale School of Medicine.
  34. Web site: Archives . Manuscripts and . Yale University Library Research Guides: Yale Officers: Medicine . 2024-06-21 . guides.library.yale.edu . en.
  35. News: 1962-05-17 . DR. GEORGE BLUMER, EX-DEAN AT YALE, 91 . 2024-06-11 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  36. Web site: Stanhope Bayne-Jones, M.D. . 11 June 2024 . American Association of Immunologists.
  37. Web site: The American Association of Immunologists - Francis G. Blake . 2024-06-21 . www.aai.org.
  38. Smith . O.L.K. . Hardy . J.D. . 1975 . Cyril Norman Hugh Long . National Academy of Sciences. 46 . 265–309 . 11615672 .
  39. News: Saxon . Wolfgang . 1984-12-24 . V.W. LIPPARD, EX-YALE DEAN . 2024-06-11 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  40. News: Lavietes . Stuart . 2004-01-17 . Dr. Frederick C. Redlich, 93, Biographer of Hitler . 2024-06-11 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  41. Web site: Poppick . Susie . 2004-01-21 . Former Med. School Dean Redlich, 93, passes away . 2024-06-11 . Yale Daily News . en.
  42. Web site: Yale Dean to Quit Med School Post After Year's Stay News The Harvard Crimson . 2024-05-29 . www.thecrimson.com.
  43. News: O'Connor . Anahad . 2002-02-12 . Robert Berliner, 86, Renal Expert And Former Yale Medical Dean . 2024-05-29 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  44. News: Smith . Harrison . 29 July 2022 . Leon Rosenberg, trailblazing human geneticist, dies at 89 . 29 May 2024 . The Washington Post.
  45. Web site: 25 July 2003 . Dr. Robert Donaldson, former medical deputy dean, dies . 2024-05-29 . archives.news.yale.edu.
  46. Web site: Zamichow . Nora . 1992-04-16 . UCSD Medical Dean Heading Back to Yale : Education: Gerard Burrow, credited with recruiting nationally recognized scientists for the college, is rejoining his alma mater as head of its medical school. . 2024-04-22 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  47. Web site: By . 2003-06-24 . YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL DEAN IS LEAVING . 2024-04-22 . Hartford Courant . en-US.
  48. Web site: Alpern reappointed to new term as dean of medical school . 2024-04-16 . medicine.yale.edu . en.
  49. News: Yale names first female dean of medical school . 2024-04-16 . New Haven Register . en.
  50. Web site: 2019-09-18 . Nancy Brown Appointed to Serve as the Next Dean of Yale Medical School . 2024-04-16 . Women In Academia Report.
  51. Web site: Erol Fikrig . Yale School of Medicine.
  52. Web site: John Krystal . Yale School of Medicine.
  53. Web site: 200 Years of Internal Medicine at Yale . 2024-08-28 . medicine.yale.edu . en.
  54. Web site: 2007-03-13 . Dartmouth Medical School - A Short History of DMS . 2024-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070313054032/http://dms.dartmouth.edu/about/history/history.shtml/ . 2007-03-13 .