The following message was sent to the department on October 1, 2024.

Dear Colleagues – On my first day as Chair & DEO, a brief note focusing on two emotions that are especially prominent in my heart today—gratitude and excitement.

I am truly grateful for this opportunity to serve the department, to learn from all of you and to help you take the Department of Medicine to greater success.

As we begin our conversation and our collective journey to excellence, I look forward to listening to and learning from you. We have three scheduled town halls and I hope that we’ll learn about each other in those meetings with robust conversation with broad engagement from faculty and staff. Those of who you are unable to join us at our University Campus location can hopefully still attend a session virtually. You will find Zoom links for each of the events, as well as a question-submission form to help shape our conversation. [https://medicine.uiowa.edu/internalmedicine/welcome-iowa-events-dr-singh]

I am also incredibly grateful to Dr. Isabella Grumbach for her years of service as interim chair. She took the job in a period of significant challenges and has led the department to many successes. Over the last several months, she has been very generous and thoughtful in sharing her expertise with me. In reading the thank-you notes that department members submitted, they clarified what I already found to be true. She believes in the department’s potential as much as she does in each member’s ability to excel. Isabella and I have similar philosophies when it comes to organizations, teamwork, and the ingredients of achieving excellence and I look forward to working with her in the months ahead.

The second emotion I have today is excitement. The department and UI Health Care are at an exciting stage. What we do together over the next few years will help shape the face of medicine in Iowa. While there are always challenges, I believe fully in the potential, in the opportunities, and that better times lie ahead. Join me in this journey as we achieve collective success. I look forward to sharing more of my philosophy in our meetings and in the months to come.

Thank you all for your warm Iowa welcome. I’m grateful to help lead this wonderful department and excited to get to work and help chart our collective future.

Warm regards,
Upi