The “Caitlin Clark Effect” is a phrase used over the last year to refer to the impact of the successes of one of basketball’s most incredible players in history on drawing new interest to the sport and her team. Similarly, the “Int Med Effect,” reasoned this year’s Employee Appreciation Day planners, demonstrated the pride its members could feel in their own achievements and the impact their department’s work has on education, clinical care, and research in academic medicine.

This year’s event, the 18th in the last 20+ years, that phrase was spotted all around the Atrium inside the MERF building. Though each person asked may produce as wide a variety of answers as its diverse members, one answer that everyone seemed to agree on was the happiness of seeing familiar faces in a relaxed setting, even just for an hour or two.

Members were invited earlier this week to celebrate and be celebrated with a free lunch and T-shirt and, after picking up their shirt, to pose for a moment with some ’90s-themed props.

And, while they made their way through the buffet line, they were also serenaded with music courtesy of the College Street Brass Band, a New Orleans-style jazz combo. (The heat outside brought them briefly inside before they moved back outside.)

After getting their food, they could sit inside or outside in the sun or shade and catch up with friends and colleagues. They could also marvel at the size of the department as the crowd and the sounds of their conversations filled the large Atrium.

No other agenda was set for the group other than to pause in a workday and feel valued and like their work was part of a larger whole.

Thanks to the committee organizers for planning the event and to everyone who attended. Happy Employee Appreciation Day!