The nation's first nursing-led, AACN-aligned MSN concentration, preparing advanced practice nurses to deliver person-centered, safe, and ethically grounded entheogen-assisted care.
Preparing advanced practice nurses to lead with rigor, reverence, and responsibility at the frontier of entheogen-assisted care.
"We are at the threshold of a profound transformation in nursing education, where we are invited to reimagine the contours of healing, connection, and care."
Yale School of Nursing is launching the nation's first nursing-led, AACN-aligned MSN concentration in Entheogen-Assisted Care in Nursing (EACIN), preparing advanced practice nurses to lead at the intersection of pharmacology, clinical science, Indigenous and cross-cultural epistemologies, safety science, and policy literacy.
Students develop advanced expertise in the pharmacology and neurobiology of entheogenic compounds, build fluency in patient selection, dosing protocols, and risk mitigation, and engage with the R3 Framework of Reverence, Reciprocity, and Relationality, which anchors the program's ethical and cultural foundations.
Graduates are prepared to deliver person-centered care with profound promise for trauma, depression, addiction, chronic pain, and serious illness-related distress, while leading interprofessional, equity-driven models of practice.
Preparation establishes safety, trust, and clinical readiness before the session begins.
Pharmacology, presence, and ethical conduct shape what happens in altered states.
Integration helps the patient weave insight into ordinary life and lasting change.
EACIN is anchored in three guiding principles drawn from Indigenous epistemologies and cross-cultural lineages. They shape how students learn, how they practice, and how the program relates to the traditional stewards of these medicines.
Reverence, Reciprocity, and Relationality are not abstractions. They are operational commitments that guard against bioprospecting, commercialization, and the commodification of sacred traditions, while shaping every clinical decision a student is asked to make.
Honoring the wisdom of ancestral traditions, the depth of human experience, and the sacred responsibility entrusted to those who serve. Reverence orients every encounter toward humility before what is not fully knowable.
Acknowledging the Indigenous lineages from which these medicines emerged and giving back, materially and relationally, to the communities that have stewarded them for generations. Reciprocity rejects extraction as a model of engagement.
Centering the relationship between clinician and patient, between Western medicine and ancestral practice, and between the individual encounter and the wider web of community, policy, and place in which healing occurs.
The concentration is a three-course sequence taken during the final MSN year: two didactic courses build the foundation and applied clinical decision-making, and an experiential practicum translates that learning into supervised practice across immersives, simulation labs, and clinical contexts.
Builds a foundation in the pharmacology and neurobiology of entheogenic compounds, the history and Indigenous lineages of these medicines, and the ethical frameworks (including the R3 Framework) that anchor responsible care.
Develops fluency in clinical decision-making for entheogen-assisted care, including patient selection, dosing protocols, risk stratification, set and setting, and the use of XR and AI-based technologies for safety, risk recognition, and emergency protocols.
Translates classroom learning into supervised experiential practice across the program's immersive experientials, XR simulations, and clinical contexts, applying entheogen-assisted care competencies with rigor and reverence.
Students engage in a minimum of three immersive experientials designed to bridge ancient lineage and modern clinical innovation. These are not field trips: they are integral to the practicum and shape how students learn to hold the work.
Curated access to one of the world's most significant repositories of human knowledge. Students engage directly with manuscripts from antiquity, grounding clinical practice in the historical and cultural underpinnings of entheogen use across traditions.
Through a dedicated partnership with visionary artists Alex and Allyson Gray, students travel to the Hudson Valley campus of CoSM for an immersion exploring the vital intersection of humanities, art, and science in the visionary state and its role in healing.
Innovative XR (extended reality) platforms designed to reduce patient anxiety, prime the therapeutic set and setting, and support emergency-protocol training. Students master the environment of care within a controlled, high-tech framework.
The Centering Reverence Project is the operational expression of the R3 Framework. It prioritizes Indigenous voices in curriculum development, builds community partnerships rooted in reciprocity rather than extraction, and creates equity pathways for the populations most often excluded from emerging models of entheogen-assisted care.
The concentration prepares graduates to demonstrate six core competencies aligned with the AACN Domains and NONPF Competencies.
Master the pharmacology, neurobiology, and clinical science of entheogenic compounds and their interaction with the human nervous system across diverse therapeutic indications.
The EACIN concentration is led by two faculty members who are also 2025 Inaugural University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP) Fellows, connecting Yale to a national network of faculty innovators shaping evidence-based, culturally responsive psychedelic and entheogen-assisted care training.
Associate Dean of Nursing Impact
Assistant Professor, Yale School of Nursing
2025 Inaugural U-PEP Faculty Fellow
Dr. Rodriguez integrates academic nursing expertise with profound lived experience in the Indigenous traditions from which these medicines emerged. Her dual perspective grounds the EACIN concentration in both rigorous scholarship and the principles of relationality and reciprocity that center the program's R3 Framework.
Lecturer and Track Lead for FNP Specialty
Yale School of Nursing
2025 Inaugural U-PEP Faculty Fellow
Dr. Korbey serves as Lecturer and Track Lead for the Family Nurse Practitioner specialty at YSN. As a U-PEP Faculty Fellow, she collaborates directly with leading researchers and clinicians at the frontier of psychedelic and entheogen-assisted care, bringing the field's most current scholarship into EACIN's curriculum.
Open to YSN MSN students in the final year of their program. The concentration runs alongside specialty coursework, not in place of it.
Open to YSN MSN students in the final year of their program. A robust foundation in advanced nursing practice and direct clinical experience is essential before engaging in entheogen-assisted care.
Students are notified by email when the application window opens. Students must obtain permission from their academic advisor prior to applying, and the application also requires a personal statement and an unofficial transcript.
Students who enroll are charged an additional fee at the School's per-credit tuition rate. Visit the YSN Tuition & Fees page for the most current information.
Reach out to Zachary Maggio at zachary.maggio@yale.edu if your question isn't answered here.
The term psychedelic, coined in 1956 by Humphry Osmond, means "mind-manifesting" and emphasizes the psychological effects of these medicines. In 1979, ethnobotanists Carl Ruck and colleagues coined entheogen, meaning "generating the divine within," to emphasize the spiritual, ceremonial, and relational dimensions of these medicines and to honor Indigenous epistemologies.
YSN intentionally adopts the term entheogen to reflect a broader, more inclusive understanding of these medicines, affirming reverence for Indigenous knowledge systems and spiritual practices. The choice supports interdisciplinary discourse across healthcare, education, divinity, and public health, rather than confining the field to Western psychiatric paradigms.
The concentration is open to MSN students at Yale School of Nursing who are in the final year of their program. Applicants typically apply in the year preceding enrollment. The concentration runs in parallel with the specialty curriculum, as an addition rather than a substitute. A robust foundation in advanced nursing practice and direct clinical experience is essential before engaging in a field as specialized as entheogen-assisted care.
Applications open during the year preceding enrollment in the concentration. YSN students will be notified by email when the application window opens, with a link to the application.
YSN students will be notified by email when the application window opens. There is no separate sign-up. If you are a current MSN student, the announcement will come directly to your Yale inbox.
No. Concentrations are selective and may have capacity limits, so admission cannot be guaranteed.
The concentration is a three-course sequence taken during the final MSN year, consisting of two graduate didactic courses and an experiential practicum that includes immersive experientials, XR simulations, and supervised clinical learning.
Students accepted into a concentration are charged an additional fee at the School's per-credit tuition rate. Current tuition information is available on the YSN Tuition & Fees page.
Yes. Students who enroll in a concentration can have their financial aid packages adjusted to include the additional tuition in their cost of attendance.
Students develop the knowledge, clinical reasoning, and practical skills to deliver evidence-based, ethically grounded, person-centered entheogen-assisted care. The concentration builds fluency in:
The pharmacology and neurobiology of entheogenic compounds; clinical judgment for patient selection, dosing protocols, and therapeutic timing; comprehensive risk stratification and mitigation through evidence-based safety protocols; ethical stewardship grounded in the R3 Framework of Reverence, Reciprocity, and Relationality; and policy and regulatory literacy to support sustainable, equitable care models.
The University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP) is a national initiative equipping faculty across the health professions to integrate evidence-based, culturally responsive psychedelic education into higher education. Supported by philanthropic partners and leading research institutes, U-PEP trains Faculty Fellows through immersive programs, mentorship, and resource-sharing.
YSN's acceptance into U-PEP's inaugural Faculty Fellows cohort is a powerful external validation of the school's academic leadership in this emerging field. It connects Yale to a national network of faculty innovators and positions YSN as a national model for responsible, equity-driven entheogen-assisted care training.
The R3 Framework stands for Reverence, Reciprocity, and Relationality. It is the program's ethical and cultural foundation, drawn from Indigenous epistemologies and cross-cultural lineages, that guards against bioprospecting, commercialization, and the commodification of sacred traditions. It is operational rather than symbolic: students learn to apply it in every clinical decision and every community partnership.
The Centering Reverence Project is a signature initiative of the EACIN concentration that translates the R3 Framework into action. It prioritizes Indigenous voices in curriculum development, builds reciprocal community partnerships, and creates equity pathways for the populations most often excluded from emerging models of entheogen-assisted care, including veterans, marginalized communities, and those navigating chronic illness.
Graduates are prepared to lead in any clinical environment addressing complex, treatment-resistant conditions, with growing demand in psychiatric health, addiction, chronic pain management, palliative and end-of-life care, oncology, neurorehabilitation, and reproductive and hormonal health. Anticipated practice settings include clinical research sites, ketamine clinics, community-based harm reduction programs, and the policy and legislative arena.
The concentration is co-directed by Dr. Christine Rodriguez (DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, MDiv, MA, FNYAM, FAAN), Associate Dean of Nursing Impact and Assistant Professor at YSN, and Dr. Samantha Korbey (DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC), Lecturer and Track Lead for the FNP Specialty. Both are 2025 Inaugural University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP) Fellows.
Information sessions and faculty Q&A details for the upcoming cycle will be posted as dates are confirmed.
Join Drs. Rodriguez and Korbey for an overview of the EACIN concentration, including curriculum, immersive experientials, eligibility, and the application process.
Join the inaugural cohort of nurses prepared to lead at the frontier of entheogen-assisted care. To apply, you need academic advisor permission, a copy of your unofficial transcript, and a short personal statement. Detailed instructions can be found in the application.