As a founding director of the NYMC Clinical Skills and Simulation Center (CSSE), which opened its doors in 2013, Katharine Yamulla, M.H.E.A, CHSE, has been a passionate advocate for delivering holistic clinical skills training that focuses on strengthening patient/doctor communication dynamics, implementing competency based education, bolstering physician wellness, and promoting patient safety. The CSSC allows learners to interact with highly trained standardized patients, high-fidelity manikins, and more than 150 innovative task trainers, like advanced ultrasound and intubation models, that provide vital educational opportunities for learns to hone their skills in a safe environment. More than 3,000 learners per year partake in clinical skills training and assessment programs at the CSSC. As a result, Ms. Yamulla is also overseeing a much needed expansion which will introduce new clinical training environments that accommodate advanced simulation equipment, increase the volume of training, assessment, and certification programs that occur at the CSSC and incorporate programs that address the unique needs of marginalized communities, including patients with disabilities, to ensure our trainees delivery culturally competent healthcare.

In 2019, Ms. Yamulla took on the role of Senior Director of Competency Based Assessment which has allowed her to develop a competency based assessment thread that tracks student's progress towards mastery of graduation competencies and promotes longitudinal clinical skills training by integrating content across courses for the School of Medicine. In October of 2023, she was promoted to Assistant Dean of Clinical Skills Education and Assessment, which gives her direct oversight of campus-wide clinical skills education and assessment for medical students, residents, physicians and health professions students. This new position creates a bridge between the academic and clinical community, enhances affiliation agreements between the college and community partners through interprofessional training opportunities, boosts faculty development initiatives, and promotes mastery learning utilizing Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and other accreditation standards.

Ms. Yamulla is very active at the national and international levels with her innovations being recognized by the International Society for Medical Science Educators and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She is an elected member of the Executive Council for the Directors of Clinical Skills Education, an AAMC affiliated group, and was also appointed as Program Planning Chair. Ms. Yamulla was the recipient of the Business Council of Westchester 40 under 40 Rising Star award (2017), was named the 2015 Navy Seabees Distinguished Scholar and is being honored by the Children’s Dream Foundation of Westchester as a 2022 Person of Distinction.

Areas of Expertise

• Simulation Education and Training
• Experiential Learning and Training
• Competency Based Assessments
• Clinical Skills Education
• Faculty Development
• Communication Skills Training
• Interprofessional Education
• Educational Leadership

Education

• B.A., Acting and Directing, DeSales University
• M.H.E.A., Higher Education Administration and Assessment, Stony Brook University
• CHSE, Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator, Society for Simulation in Healthcare

Honors and Awards

• Children's Dream Foundation of Westchester Educator of the Year, 2022
• Business Council of Westchester Rising Star 40 Under 40, 2017
• Guest of Honor and Invited Speaker – United States Navy Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association Anniversary Gala; Washington D.C., 2016
• Distinguished Scholar – United States Navy Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association; Washington D.C., 2015

Recent Presentations

National/International Conference Presentations:

• Yamulla, K., Klig, J., Taylor, D., Tsai, C., Be Well! Coach! Well-being and Building Resiliency; Directors of Clinical Skills Courses Annual Meeting at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Conference; Seattle, Wa; November 2023
• Yamulla, K., The Curiosity Effect: An Exploration of Communication, Bias, and Self-Reflection; Society for Simulation in Healthcare Annual International Conference; Orlando, Fl; January 2023
• Yamulla, K., Think Like an Actor, Act Like an Educator; Society for Simulation in Healthcare Annual International Conference; Orlando, Fl; January 2023
• Yamulla, K., Barron, B., Vassilakis, A., Beyond the Numbers: Challenges in Competency Based Educational Assessment; Directors of Clinical Skills Courses Annual Meeting at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Conference; Nashville, Tn; November 2022
• Yamulla, K., Stallings, G., Triple Jump Exercise for Use of Evidence Based Medicine; Directors of Clinical Skills Courses Annual Meeting at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Conference; Virtual; August 2021
• Milan, F., K., John, J., Yamulla, K., Evaluating Curricular Materials to Mitigate Bias; AAMC Joint Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) Conference Annual Conference; Virtual; April 2021
• Yamulla, K., Think Like an Actor, Act Like an Educator; Society for Simulation in Healthcare Annual International Conference; Virtual; January 2021
• Yamulla, K., Strengthening Communication Skills Tools in an Era of Virtual Assessments; Society for Simulation in Healthcare Annual International Conference; Virtual; January 2021
• Yamulla, K., John, J., Implementing Collaborative Clinical Skills Feedback in the Remote Learning Environment; Directors of Clinical Skills Courses Annual Meeting at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Conference; Virtual; October 2020
• Yamulla, K., Think Like an Actor, Act Like an Educator; Society for Simulation in Healthcare Annual International Conference; San Diego, Ca; January 2020

Professional Service

• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Clinical Skills and Standardization (CLASS) Assessment “Why” Task Force – Elected Member
• Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) Virtual Case Library – Invited Editor
• Directors of Clinical Skills Education (DOCS) AAMC Affiliated Group- Executive Committee – Elected Member
• Directors of Clinical Skills Education (DOCS) AAMC Affiliated Group Program Planning Committee – Elected Co-Chair
• Directors of Clinical Skills Courses (DOCS) AAMC Affiliated Group-Peer Review Committee – Member
• National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Product Development: Clinical Reasoning Tools – Member
• Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) Special Interest Group- Directors of Sim Centers – Member

Memberships and Affiliations

• Association of Standardized Patient Educators Directors of Clinical Skills Education
• National Council on Measurement in Education
• Society for Simulation in Healthcare
• Society of Teachers of Family Medicine

Teaching Responsibilities

• Best Practices for Near Peer Teaching – Course Author
• Communication Skills and Team Dynamics – Course Author
• Professionalism and Communication Remediation – Course Author
• Intersession – Professionalism and Identity Formation – Instructor
• Medical Education Concentration Course – Course Author
• Foundations of Simulation – Faculty
• Patient Care Thread-Pre Clinical – Faculty Development
• Patient Care Thread-Pre Clinical – Instructor & Small Group Leader
• Year 3 Clerkships – Faculty Development
• Year 3 Clerkships – Instructor & Small Group Leader
• GME Resident/Fellow Remediation Course – Associate Instructor
• Transition to Clerkship/Residency Course– Assistant Course Director
• Best Practices in Simulation Feedback and Debriefing – Lead Instructor
• Simulation Education Elective – Course Instructor
• Competency Assessment Year 3 – Course Director