 Yalom spent much of his childhood reading books in the family home above the grocery store and in a local library.After graduating from high school, he attended George Washington University and then Boston University School of Medicine.After graduating with a BA from George Washington University in 1952 and a Doctor of Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine in 1956 he went on to complete his internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and his residency at the Phipps Clinic of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and completed his training in 1960.