Jeffrey Kaibin Lin, MD, MPH, is a family medicine public health physician who cares for adults with a wide range of health needs, including people living with addiction and people who receive care outside traditional clinic settings. He has a special interest in caring for people who are unhoused or marginally housed, individuals with a history of incarceration who are establishing medical care afterwards, as well as recent immigrants and refugees.

“Family medicine gives me the confidence to practice medicine in any setting, for any patient, and be broadly equipped for anything that comes up,” he says. “When conditions become complex or specialty care is needed, I also understand the limits of my training and am able to refer appropriately within our extensive network.”

Dr. Lin provides primary care, addiction care, and preventive services. He helps patients manage chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression and also treats substance use disorders. He works with patients to reduce barriers to care, recognizing that transportation, housing, work schedules, and language can all affect health. He aims to meet patients where they are—whether in a clinic or in street outreach settings—and to build trust over time.

“In primary care, the relationship between the patient and the physician is the key to success, and while we may not always agree on every recommendation, the conversation that we have prior to any recommendations is where that relationship gets built,” he says.

At the Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Lin serves as a core faculty member of the Yale Primary Care Residency with a focus on training the next generation of physicians to care for people who live and receive care in nontraditional settings. His work and interests include health care for people experiencing homelessness, urban health, and the social factors that shape health, such as income, housing, and access to services. He is program director of a new street medicine training program for internal medicine residents at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Lin earned his medical and graduate degrees in public health from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He completed a residency in family medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Before coming to Yale, he worked as a family physician and served as a clinical instructor at various federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and other academic medical centers.