Student Life

Yale School of Public Health’s ultimate priority is ensuring the individual success of each and every student. Accordingly, YSPH boasts a thorough and inclusive network of academic, extracurricular, professional, and student life resources. This extensive support structure empowers YSPH students to pursue an authentic and personal educational journey. “It is almost as if they opened every single door at Yale and said, ‘Choose which one you want to walk through,’” says Bo Nemelka, MPH ’14.

The classroom experience at YSPH is designed to be attentive to each student’s academic ambitions. This level of individualized support is achieved through engaged classrooms settings which offer a student-to-teacher ratio of nearly 5:1. What’s more, students are provided ample opportunity for one-on-one mentorship and research. YSPH provides its students with over 25 research centers and programs through which they can harness mentor relationships while building tangible research skills.

According to students, these one-on-one settings inevitably become notable cornerstones of their YSPH careers. Haeyoon Chang, MPH ’18 offers one such example with her faculty mentor Dr. Nicola Hawley, “From the very beginning, she took the time to listen to my ideas and challenges. In addition, she was always happy to talk about my goals and connect me with others. Her encouragement gave me the confidence to pursue my PhD.”

Beyond these mentorship opportunities, YSPH students have access to technical resources as well. The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning provides any student with personalized writing, research, and public speaking guidance. Moreover, the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library focuses exclusively on medical texts and offers research consultations and workshops for YSPH students. Lastly, YSPH’s various academic tracks are each outfitted with academic advisors specializing in joint degree programs, doctoral degrees, and the school’s unique BA-BS/MPH 5-year program.

In addition to academic assistance, YSPH provides a host of career and professional support to allow students to feel confident and inspired once they depart YSPH. Outlets such as the Career Management Center (CMC) help ensure that 93% of YSPH students attain employment or further education within nine months of graduating. The CMC offers individualized career guidance, access to YSPH’s elaborate alumni network, and professional skills development.

Students can also lean on the CMC to devise their career goals and craft internship experiences essential to achieving those goals. Aivy Duong, BA/MPH ‘22 was able to discover her ambition for health care consulting through a summer internship at Deloitte. “Prior to my internship, I had not considered a career in consulting. However, after thoroughly enjoying my internship… I realized that I could pursue a career in health care consulting. I'm grateful to be able to return to my firm with a full-time offer.”

YSPH’s support system extends to the daily student experience as well. With a goal to empower its students to lead careers advocating for diversity and equity, YSPH endeavors to champion inclusion. YSPH’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee and Office of Public Health Practice are constantly at work to instill every student with a sense of belonging.

Similarly, the Office of Student Affairs looks to provide each YSPH student with the space and opportunity to cultivate an enriching graduate experience in and outside of the classroom.

• Research at YSPH
• Public Health Practice at YSPH
• Innovate Health Yale - YSPH's social entrepreneurship incubator
• Clery Report Information