Mission
The mission of the Yale Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program (RWJ CSP) is to prepare a talented group of physicians dedicated to addressing challenges and opportunities in our rapidly evolving medical and healthcare system.

Now, perhaps more than ever, the nation needs physician leaders who are capable of developing solutions to the problems that continue to undermine health and healthcare. Despite enormous technological advances in medicine and healthcare delivery, the nation’s healthcare system continues to be plagued by many pressing problems including barriers to access, a disproportionate burden of illness imposed on vulnerable populations, misaligned incentives, fragmentation of healthcare services, and persistent concerns about the safety, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness of care.

There is a need for physicians who will not only charaterize these and other deficiencies, but also address and resolve them. The Yale Clinical Scholars Program aims to prepare physician leaders to improve the nation’s health and healthcare by generating knowledge and translating research into action at the local, state, and national levels.

Through coursework, practical experiences, interaction with health leaders, and Scholar-generated research, the Yale RWJ CSP prepares Scholars to work effectively across disciplines, think creatively and rigorously about healthcare issues, generate ideas and test hypotheses, participate in policy development, work within communities, and lead organizational change. This preparation is achieved by a curriculum that develops skills for investigation and proficiency in the application of research. The Program balances classroom experience with ample time for research project development and individual mentoring.

Although the future will hold many changes for healthcare, we believe that formal training in critical thinking, and quantitative and qualitative methods will remain an essential component of the success of future leaders. The topics of the day will evolve, but the ability to evaluate information, to question conventional wisdom, and to generate creative solutions to challenging questions through rigorous reasoning will serve future physician leaders well in any activity they choose.