Research Education

Research education is a cornerstone of the Yale Physician Associate Program curriculum. We believe clinicians must rely on the principles of evidence-based medicine and understand research methodology if they are to think critically and provide the best care to patients.

Building on the knowledge and skills learned in the first year clinical students choose one of 3 pathways to complete the individual thesis requirement:

Pathway 1: Develop a hypothesis-driven proposal to explore a novel research question relevant to clinical or behavioral medicine practice and/or health services.

Pathway 2: Develop a short research project that includes primary data collection, analysis, and dissemination of findings at conferences and peer-reviewed journals.

Pathway 3: Apply for the Wilbur Downs Fellowship. Students can apply for the opportunity to conduct funded research in an international setting. The application process begins in year one and the field research is implemented in year two.

Faculty from the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, or School of Public Health mentor each student during the development of the thesis project.