Dear Colleagues,

May is a month of celebrations at Yale — especially for our students. This year marked Yale’s 325th Commencement, celebrated university-wide on main campus, where nearly 4,500 degrees were conferred to more than 1,400 undergraduate students and to students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Yale’s 13 professional schools including Yale School of Medicine. By contrast, at Yale’s first commencement in 1702 there was just one graduate. That’s quite a bit of growth in the student body, I’d say.

Following the main campus event, which was presided over by President McInnis, our medical students marched over to Amistad Park for a ceremony with their family and friends presided over by Dean Brown. It was a bright and hot (and I mean hot) sunny day as the crowd gathered under a large tent. On stage with Dean Brown were six other GIM faculty (Drs. Chaudhry, Francis, Talwalkar, Kashaf, Tetrault, and me) in their roles as members of the dean’s office team that supports our students from orientation to graduation.

This year, 106 YSM graduates received their MDs and other degrees (e.g.: PhD, MHS, MPH, and MBA) and heard an inspiring talk by Andrew Berg. A centerpiece of commencement is the announcement of the annual faculty awards. Over the past 25 years, GIM faculty have received 32 of these awards — a true testament to the critical contributions our faculty make to the school of medicine.

This year, Yale GIM has a “hat trick” of three YSM commencement faculty awards! Angela Kang-Giaimo, MD, MPH, received the Leah M. Lowenstein Award for excellence in the promotion of humane and egalitarian medical education. Abhay Dhond, MD, MPH, received the Charles W. Bohmfalk Prize for teaching in the clinical sciences. Shaili Gupta, MBBS, MHS, won the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. Wow — BRAVO Angie, Abhay, and Shaili!

The YSM Class of 2026 is now off enjoying a little bit of freedom before they start their residency orientations sometime in June. I recall my orientation at the University of Rochester: lunch, followed by a trip to the health office, and then a fitting for our “whites” (coat and pants). This was followed by a trip to wherever we were starting our 1st internship rotation – to get “sign out” so we could begin our internship the following day. As it turns out my first rotation was in the ED, so, no team sign out for me. I simply had to show up at midnight that night for my first shift – yikes! Orientation is now a two+ week gauntlet of learning the ropes of the EHR and much more. Ah, for the good old days!

As May transitions into to June, we’ll be preparing for yet another set of celebrations for our soon-to-graduate residents and fellows. As one fellow said to me recently, “Sometimes it seems like life is a series of 3-4 year training activities - interviews for the next step.” I can see where she was coming from. The key is to enjoy the ride along the way.

Patrick

Patrick G. O'Connor, MD, MPH

Dan Adams and Amanda Adams Professor of General Medicine
Chief, Yale General Internal Medicine
Head of Advisory House, Yan House
Yale School of Medicine

Kristine Olson, MD, MSc, was promoted to associate clinical professor.

The following meetings took place in May. In case you missed them, meetings that have been recorded can be viewed as indicated below.

Yale General Internal Medicine Grand Rounds and Yale GIM Noon Meetings - Please go to: https://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/genmed/news/grand-rounds/

https://medicine.yale.edu/internal-medicine/genmed/news/gim-noon-meetings/

Note: The logins for the Grand Rounds and noon meetings have been upgraded to ensure better security for Yale networks.

1. Yale employees can use their CAS login.

2. Other emails from approved domains should log in using the non-Yale email button. You will be prompted to set up a username and password.

3. Personal emails will no longer be allowed access to videos.

Yale General Internal Medicine Noon Meetings prior to December 2025 - can be viewed here.

Web Profile Photoshoots: The Office of Communications offers a web profile photo portrait once every five years. To schedule an appointment, please select a date from the calendar. Photoshoots take place at 333 Cedar Street, Room 211A. If you do not have the time, then you can submit your own web profile picture by selecting the following link: Submit Your Own Web Profile Photo.

Video Biography: A video biography on Yalemedicine.org gives physicians the opportunity to showcase your medical specialist. To schedule an interview with Kimberly Conner, please use this link. Interviews take place at 333 Cedar Street, Room L207A.