It’s already been more than two weeks since I started in this role. I’m so grateful to everyone who has been so welcoming and friendly. I am trying my best to learn all your names and faces, so please feel free to stop me in the hallway to introduce yourself. And make sure you attend one of my remaining two town halls. There is a lot of ground to cover; you will get your steps in just crossing our university campus. Getting from our Medicine Specialty Clinic at the south end to Boyd Tower at the north end is itself no short hop. And that does not even count all of our increasing numbers of locations. Downtown Iowa City, Coralville at Iowa River Landing, North Liberty, the Quad Cities, and now of course the recently announced partnership with Mission + Blood to dramatically increase our care for Iowans in the center of the state with cancer.

But even metaphorically, there is more ground to cover than I can possibly address in these messages every two weeks. I got familiar with the department and our priorities in part through reading back “Views” posts from previous chairs. It means a lot to me that you are reading this, and I want to respect competing demands on your attention. That is why I think the format could use a little update. I’m going to play around with some styles over the next few months and we’ll see what sticks. We’ll start with what I’m calling:

Upi’s “Oh, WOW” moments
It is interview season! I have gotten to welcome groups of medical students to their virtual interview day with our residency program. It’s exciting to feel that energy, even through a screen. Our Education team has an efficient system for managing the flow of applicants in and out of video chat “rooms.” It looks professional and in control, but also puts the applicant at ease, allowing them to present their best self to us. I think it is very easy for a prospective resident to walk away with the sense that their training will be a priority in our department. I bet afterward they are also saying, “Oh, WOW.”

Photo for reflection

This photo is of my daughter standing on Pulpit Rock last year when my family and I were fortunate enough to visit Norway. This cliff stands close to a thousand feet above the Lysefjord waterway. It is a humbling view that can make your palms sweat! But it also allows you to see for miles and miles in every direction. I like looking at this picture because it reminds me that although details matter, sometimes I just need to take in the whole view all at once. I hope that in the day-to-day of demands, you are also getting a chance to step back, even for five minutes, to see the bigger picture. See what brought you here and where you are pointed. Is that still the direction you want to move in? Is there a faster path suddenly visible now? If you only keep putting one foot in front of the other, you might miss the turn you need.

Finally
I know that there’s an existing link for anonymous feedback, and I think that’s important. You should also take the time if you haven’t yet to fill out your Working at Iowa survey. That unique link is in your Outlook inbox. The more data we have, the sharper the picture. But I also really want to hear your concerns directly from you, especially the hard things that are eating at you the most. It’s how we get better. We face the hard stuff head on together with a clear view and then we figure out how we can fix it. I love good news too, but I think we already do a pretty good job at sharing that stuff. So, don’t be shy. Radical honesty will always get my gratitude.