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INFORMATION FOR

    Cynthia Frary McNamara, MD, FACP

    Assistant Professor of Medicine (General Medicine)
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    Additional Titles

    Associate Program Director, Department of Internal Medicine

    Co-Director, Ambulatory Education, TIMRP, Medicine

    Director, Clinical Competency Committee, TIMRP, Medicine

    Site Director, Traditional Internal Medicine Residency Program, VA Connecticut, Department of Internal Medicine

    About

    Titles

    Assistant Professor of Medicine (General Medicine)

    Associate Program Director, Department of Internal Medicine; Co-Director, Ambulatory Education, TIMRP, Medicine; Director, Clinical Competency Committee, TIMRP, Medicine; Site Director, Traditional Internal Medicine Residency Program, VA Connecticut, Department of Internal Medicine

    Biography

    Dr. Cynthia Frary McNamara is an Associate Program Director for the Traditional Internal Medicine Residency Program, (TIMRP), for which she is also serving as the Director of the Clinical Competency Committee and the Co-Director of Ambulatory Education. Dr. McNamara is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and an internist at the Veterans Administration Hospital Connecticut. She is honored to provide primary care for our country’s veterans and to teach medical trainees.

    Dr. McNamara is interested in mentorship; she directs the MentorAdvisorCoach (MAC) Program for the TIMRP and is a mentor to approximately fifty trainees. Dr. McNamara's interests also include medical education, particularly topics related to social and identity-based determinants of health and global and rural health that contribute to health disparity. She has received two Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholar awards to serve as a teaching physician in Uganda and Rwanda and has worked providing primary care in areas of Central America. Cynthia received a Yale Department of Medicine Educational Research Grant support work on a project entitled Needs Assessment for Rural Medicine Curriculum in United States Medical Schools and presented an abstract at the 2024 SGIM National Meeting. She is part of the Women's and Gender Health Education core faculty and has taught Medication Abortion and Abortion Regulations and Patient Care, highlighting how abortion regulations contribute to health disparity; some of this work has been published, and an abstract has been presented at the 2024 SGIM National Meeting. Dr. McNamara and colleagues created an outpatient elective in Addiction Medicine for the TIMRP, an oral presentation describing the process, and this elective was presented at the Association of Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Abuse and Addiction (AMERSA) conference in 2023.


    Last Updated on September 28, 2024.

    Appointments

    Other Departments & Organizations

    Education & Training

    Medical Education Fellowship
    Yale School of Medicine
    Resident
    Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (1994)
    MD
    Cornell University Medical College (1991)
    BS
    Boston College, Biochemistry (1987)

    Advanced Training & Certifications

    Medical Education Fellowship, Yale School of Medicine
    Yale School of Medicine (2022)
    Yale/Stanford Global Health Scholar's Program, Yale School of Medicine
    Yale School of Medicine (2017)
    Yale/Stanford Global Health Scholar's Program/Yale School of Medicine
    Yale School of Medicine (2011)

    Board Certifications

    • Internal Medicine, recertification. Participating in MOC.

      Certification Organization
      American Board of Internal Medicine
      Original Certification Date
      2024

    Research

    Overview

    My academic interests include medical education, particularly topics related to social and identity-based determinants of health and global and rural health that contribute to health disparity. I am part of the core faculty for the Women's and Gender Health Education Program. I have traveled extensively and delivered and taught outpatient primary care and inpatient internal medicine in low-resource countries.

    My interest in medical education was developed and expanded through the Faculty Development Program at Johns Hopkins, where I formalized my experience in educating students and residents. I have taught medical trainees and colleagues in many capacities, including outpatient and inpatient medicine individually and in small groups. I have given formal lectures to large groups of medical personnel and to community-based lay personnel. I am interested in expanding medical education to IM residents to include elements of healthcare in which disparity is based on access and/or social and identity-based determinants of health.

    Medical Research Interests

    Education, Medical; Global Health; Rural Health

    Public Health Interests

    Community Engagement; Community Health; Substance Use, Addiction; Women's Health; Reproduction; Health Equity, Disparities, Social Determinants and Justice

    Research at a Glance

    Yale Co-Authors

    Frequent collaborators of Cynthia Frary McNamara's published research.

    Publications

    2026

    • Shoulder Pain
      Edition 12, Volume 4. Shoulder Pain. In Yale Office-Based Medicine Curriculum, eds Julie R Rosenbaum, Seonaid F. Hay, and Benjamin Gallagher, New Haven, CT: Yale University.
      Chapters

    2024

    2023

    • Medication Abortion
      McNamara C, 2023, Edition 11, Volume 4. Medication Abortion. In Yale Office-based Medicine Curriculum, eds. Julie R Rosenbaum, Seonaid F. Hay, and Benjamin Gallagher. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
      Chapters
    • Nephrolithiasis
      McNamara C, 2023, Edition 11, Volume 3. Nephrolithiasis. In Yale Office-based Medicine Curriculum, eds. Julie R Rosenbaum, Seonaid F. Hay, and Benjamin Gallagher. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
      Chapters
    • It takes a village: an interdisciplinary approach to preparing internal medicine residents to care for patients at the intersection of women’s health, gender-affirming care, and health disparities
      Henrich JB, Richman I, Rabin TL, Gielissen KA, Dhond M, Canarie JX, Hirschman AL, Windham MR, Maya S, McNamara C, Pathy S, Bernstein P, Smith R, Vasquez L. It takes a village: an interdisciplinary approach to preparing internal medicine residents to care for patients at the intersection of women’s health, gender-affirming care, and health disparities. J Women’s Health (Accepted 2023)
      Peer-Reviewed Original Research

    2022

    Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

    Activities

    • activity

      Outreach Committee, Christ Episcopal Church

    • activity

      Christ Episcopal Church

    • activity

      The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare Committee, VA Connecticut

    • activity

      Disruptive Behavior Committee, VA Connecticut

    • activity

      Intern Selection Committee, Internal Medicine Residency Program, Yale School of Medicine

    Honors

    • honor

      Nominee, VACT Office of Health Professions Educator Excellence Award

    • honor

      Nominee, VACT Office of Health Professions Educator Excellence Award , VA Connecticut

    • honor

      Humanism Award, Yale Internal Medicine Residency Program

    • honor

      Nominee, VACT Office of Health Professions Educator Excellence Award

    • honor

      Nominee, VACT Office of Health Professions Educator Excellence Award

    Teaching & Mentoring

    Teaching

    • Clinical

      Clinic Attending Preceptor

      Supervising FacultyOutpatient Clinical Setting
    • Didactic

      Clinical Pearls Conference

      Supervising FacultyOutpatient Clinical Setting
    • Clinical

      Internal Medicine Attending Rounds

      Supervising FacultyInpatient Clinical Setting
    • Clinical

      Women's and Gender Health

      Supervising FacultyOutpatient Clinical Setting

    Mentoring

    • Miriam Katz, MD/MPH

      Yale Internal Medicine Resident
      2025 - 2028
    • Gracia Fahed

      Yale Internal Medicine Resident
      2025 - 2028
    • Elio Haroun

      Yale Internal Medicine Resident
      2025 - 2028
    • Niroop Rajashekar

      Yale Internal Medicine Resident
      2025 - 2028

    Get In Touch

    Contacts

    Academic Office Number
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