School Notes: School of Nursing
March/April 2026

Mentorship programs connect students and alumni

YSN’s mentorship programs, Admit2Alumni and Graduating Student Mentorship, currently in their second year, are engaging more than 200 alumni volunteers in mentorship of incoming and graduating YSN students.

Admit2Alumni connects YSN alumni with admitted students to answer questions about the Yale experience, careers as nurse practitioners or midwives, and the school’s mission of Better Health for All. The Graduating Student Mentorship program pairs alumni with students in their final semester, offering guidance as they transition into professional practice and begin their careers.

Due to strong alumni interest, each student is matched with two mentors based on shared clinical interests and geographic location. These relationships extend beyond graduation, providing continued support during graduates’ first year in practice. To learn more or get involved, contact program administrator Mike Regan.

Artist-in-residence integrates art, science, planetary health

Internationally recognized clinician-scientist Susan L. Prescott, a pediatrician, immunologist, artist, author, and global leader in planetary health, is YSN’s inaugural artist-in-residence for spring 2026. Her appointment reflects YSN’s commitment to integrating creativity, reflection, and planetary consciousness into health education and practice.

Prescott is professor of planetary health at the University of Western Australia, where she founded the Origins Project, a landmark early-life cohort study involving 10,000 families. She is also adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore; editor-in-chief of Challenges; and founding director of the Center for Planetary Consciousness and Global Flourishing and the Nova Network. Her leadership includes Earthrise, a contemplative community focused on cultural transformation for planetary health.

Prescott’s work explores the early environmental determinants of health, illuminating how social and ecological conditions shape lifelong well-being. Spanning medicine, public scholarship, and the arts, her career embodies a vision of personal and planetary health as deeply interconnected. 

As an artist and storyteller, Prescott uses creative practice to explore ecological interconnectedness and healing, viewing art as a catalyst for empathy and transformation. Her YSN residency builds on her recent Yale presentation, Imagining a Healthier Planet, which inspired interdisciplinary dialogue across campus. Highlights of her residency (January–May 2026) include creative workshops, an interdisciplinary event at Yale West Campus, collaborations with students and faculty, and co-design of pilot initiatives to inform a long-term artist-in-residence model.