Medical Scientist Training Program

The Yale Medical Scientist Training Program proposes to train rigorous, visionary and resilient physician scientists who are committed to improving the health of individuals and populations. Our mission is to provide students with integrated training in clinical medicine and research that qualifies them to perform at the highest standards as rigorous clinicians and scientists; to foster a physician-scientist community which supports and mentors trainees across a broad range of clinical disciplines and research domains; to cultivate the characteristics of curiosity, creativity, compassion and service in our trainees; and to develop skills associated with success in a broad range of physician-scientist research careers through experiential learning. The MSTP training plan integrates clinical and research training, allowing students to experience medicine and science in a way that promotes physician-scientist identity formation and becomes the foundation for a physician-scientist career. Built upon the strengths of Yale School of Medicine and the departments, programs and faculty of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health, and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the MD/PhD program trains students in the responsible conduct of research across a range of disciplines and provides experiential training in the design, execution and presentation of rigorous and reproducible research. We are committed to recruiting, supporting and graduating excellent students with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Activities that promote MD/PhD training and retention are embedded within School- and University-wide programs that support and promote all trainees and faculty in medicine and science. Our program prepares MD/PhD students for the challenges of a physician-scientist career, while opportunities to work with physician-scientists in medical and surgical disciplines in- and outside of academia expose students to careers that make use of the dual-degree. Our training plan proposes the following outcomes: 1) Ongoing commitment to recruiting, retaining and graduating physician-scientists in traditional and non-traditional PhD disciplines relevant to human health and disease. 2) Mentoring and training that allows 100% of our students to publish high-quality, rigorous, original work that reflects their skills and independence in research. 3) Provision of skills and motivation to support research-intensive physician-scientist careers, such that >85% of graduates engage in research during residency/fellowship training and >75% of their attempts to fund science are successful. And last, we aspire to continue the success of Yale’s first 50 years of MD/PhD training by having >75% of our graduates remain engaged in research during their careers.