Though they are needed all year long, assessments, resolutions, and recommitments always belong to the days around New Year’s. This kind of reflection is not any more effective in this last week of the year, but beyond the flip of the calendar, perhaps it is the pause, the slowing down that most of us get this week, at the end of a long month of hurried and harried activity that increases it. But of course, not all of us get that pause. As I said last month, because our missions do not pause, it falls to a set of us to maintain the level of care our patients depend on. To those providing instruction, keeping research projects running, or taking care of our inpatients over this period, thank you for your generosity and your commitment. And thank you to your family and friends who understand and support you in our incredibly important work. Those of you who have been able to rest, I hope that you have found space to replenish your tanks and to think about what you want to prioritize in the coming year.
What did the department prioritize in 2023? Its people and our shared mission of excellence in research, patient care, and education. Each detail of the narrative described during the State of the Department address earlier this month is in service to the people in Internal Medicine and their remarkable achievements in one or more of these mission components. The many continuing medical education events our divisions organized and delivered reflect our commitment to disseminating advancements in patient care and research to local and regional clinicians and, in some cases, offering our trainees an opportunity to get comfortable presenting to their peers. We also watched our residents and fellows deliver presentations about their mentored work on the regional and national stages this year. But these are things we do every year. We celebrate when our colleagues achieve recognition for their discoveries and talents in the form of teaching and service awards or in the form of research grants. These outward confirmations that sustain us both figuratively and literally are a part of our department’s story every year.
I believe 2023 was also the year we formalized our commitment to another component of our mission: strengthening community. The recent creation and launch of the Internal Medicine Honor Roll is an outcome of employee feedback and thoughtful work by our staff engagement committee. This monthly and ongoing repository of the wonderful work you all do day in and out offers a chance for each of us to broadcast the essential efforts we all deliver, no matter the size or scope. Even the seemingly small tasks that might take someone just a couple of minutes add up. If they make someone else’s day a little easier than they deserve to be thanked. I hope you will thank someone today as our team gathers next month’s Honor Roll. Two new Vice Chairs appointed in 2023 have also prioritized building community. Vice Chair for Research Dr. Chad Grueter is in the process of forming grant writing workshops in which researchers with a cross-section of experience will regularly meet to discuss individual project proposals, refining aims and providing constructive feedback. An existing workshop group has already successfully competed for a collective $9M in funding. Community is also on the mind of Dr. Jeydith Gutierrez, our new Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Gutierrez has been using her new role to ensure that all members of our department feel welcome, supported, and have equal access to the tools that will ensure their success. Programming and messaging from her team will also ensure that our patients and our trainees will be able to trust their clinicians and educators.
This idea of a strong community as a cornerstone for success has been critical lately and will only become more so in the opening months of the new year. These last weeks of 2023 have been consumed by the coming merger with Mercy Iowa City. As the shape of our relationship begins to coalesce and we have a better sense of who will be filling what roles on Feburary 1, 2024, our success will depend on everyone working together as one team, one Iowa. Thank you to the Division Directors, Division Administrators, and Kristin Goedken, our Associate Clinical Department Administrator, for all your efforts to build this new community. Thank you as well to those whose efforts will soon be called upon to welcome our new members, to train, to ask questions, and to listen and adapt to the new needs. In another year, at the end of 2024, when we look back at everything we achieved, we will know that it was our ability to work as a team that made it all possible.
As the last few days of 2023 wind down, please accept my deepest thanks for all that you have done this year to answer the call and to meet the needs of our missions. It has been my honor serving as the interim chair of this department, and I appreciate the support and feedback you have provided me throughout these two years. I look forward to what we will achieve together in 2024. Happy New Year!
