Primary Care Residency Training Program
Yale Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway
(ABIM's Research Pathway)
| Peter S. Aronson, M.D. Director, Yale Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway Department of Internal Medicine Residency Training Programs PO Box 208030 New Haven, CT 06520-8030 |
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Description of the Program
Our department very strongly encourages residents to consider academic careers in laboratory-based or patient-oriented research. Toward this end, our department encourages appropriate individuals to pursue the American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway. This pathway represents a “short track” into fellowship training as residents in this pathway complete only two rather than three clinical years of internal medicine residency. However, because this pathway requires three years of research training, it shortens training by a year only for those who plan to pursue intensive research training of this duration.
The Yale Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway involves “short tracking” into subspecialty training according the following sequence:
- 24 months internal medicine residency training (including 20 months of direct patient responsibility).
- 12-24 months subspecialty clinical training (in accord with clinical training requirements of respective subspecialties).
- 36 months research training (at least 80% time commitment).
- Ambulatory clinic during research training (10% effort, typically one half day per week).
Yale offers clinical and research training in all subspecialties of Internal Medicine. Subspecialty fellows may choose research mentors in the Department of Medicine or in a variety of other departments and programs involved in basic, translational and/or clinical research. These include Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Epidemiology and Public Health, Genetics, Immunobiology, Microbial Pathogenesis, Pathology, Pharmacology, Vascular Biology and Transplantation, and the Yale Cancer Center.
Many residents who pursue the Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway have already had extensive research training (e.g. graduates of M.D.-Ph.D. programs). However, the Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway is also appropriate for residents strongly committed to research careers who have not had extensive prior research training. For these individuals, enrollment in the Investigative Medicine Program during subspecialty fellowship training offers the opportunity to receive formal graduate training in laboratory-based or patient-oriented investigation leading to the Ph.D. degree.
Resident applicants offered admission into the Yale Physician-Scientist Research Pathway will be guaranteed:
- Admission to the subspecialty fellowship programs of their choice.
- Guaranteed salary support for three years of research training.
- Salary supplementation above the NIH scale during research training.
Final acceptance into the Yale Physician-Scientist Residency Pathway will be contingent on excellence of PGY1 performance.

