Graduates of the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation Academy at YALE.
On May 3, more than 70 students from New Haven Public high schools graduated from the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation’s Simulation Academy at YALE.
The after-school program offers hands-on healthcare simulation and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning to help students explore healthcare careers. Students learn science in the classroom and put it into practice performing specialized procedures in the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation (YCHS) lab.
Nearly 200 attendees packed the Harkness Memorial Auditorium for the graduation and a career fair. Leigh Evans, MD, YCHS executive director, kicked off the event, which featured a panel of healthcare professionals who discussed their roles and career journeys. Keynote speaker Hasfa Fazl, a former Sim Academy at YALE participant and Yale University graduate, discussed how the academy guided and helped open doors for her. Richard Gusberg, MD, Simulation Academy at YALE founder, was recognized during the program, which also celebrated the Simulation Academy’s 10th anniversary.
Yale undergraduates, medical students, fellows and faculty mentored students during the year-long academy. Mentor Program Leads Jack McCarthy, Yale School of Medicine student, and Samreen Vora, MD, director of Interprofessional Simulation and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, YSM, discussed how mentors guided students to explore healthcare careers and inspired them to reflect on their experiences and goals.
“In a world that often moves too fast, this practice encouraged them to pause and process their experiences,” McCarthy said. “The students walked away with a clearer sense of their goals, a stronger connection to health care, and a deeper understanding of their own capacity to grow.”
YCHS has collaborated with New Haven Public Schools and Yale Pathways to Science for the program, which is supported by a Science Education Partnership Award grant from the National Institutes of Health.
