Kevin Dougherty

3rd Year, Internal Medicine

There's such collegial and open communication between interns, residents, faculty, attending and other departments here. Our program director is indescribably invested in our education and the administration makes the program livable, social and fun, yet still works us hard and provides an unparalleled education. That's what Yale New Haven Hospital is all about.

I'm in my final year of residency in internal medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital and my wife Heather is also a resident in pediatrics. Among the many reasons we chose Yale New Haven for our residencies was how receptive they were to us couples matching. Having two such outstanding programs under one roof made the decision much easier. But probably the biggest reason I came to Yale, though, is the outstanding faculty.

The infrastructure at Yale has undergone many improvements in the past three years, from the general medicine floors where we spend a great deal of time to the Smilow Cancer Hospital and a brand-new ICU. The depth of the other departments, the resources and technology and the marriage of research with clinical medicine are also impressive. There's an active and growing cardiac transplant program, the CCU has been restructured to maximize teaching and there's a new chief of cardiology. The various specialties and subspecialties, and the opportunity to interact with national leaders on a daily basis, make the residents' training experience that much better. Finally, seeing such a wide variety of patients, from across the socioeconomic, racial and ethnic spectrum is a huge benefit to our training. Collectively, these attributes have made my training at Yale New Haven an unbelievable experience.

This summer I'm returning to Tufts, where I went to medical school, for a cardiology fellowship, but I've developed relationships here that will last forever, with people who have trained me, made me a better person and shaped who I am as a physician. That's a great feeling.