After the spring tornado, I wrote about the challenges faced by our students and community and the support we were able to provide in the face of that disaster. This February, the month of heart health, love, Black History, and more, I am writing about a more insidious problem: food insecurity. It is an issue […]

On Hope Let’s face it, 2025 was a rough year – for science, for medicine, for higher education, for St. Louis. It’s easy to get caught up in the negative. But in 2026, I choose hope. On New Year’s Day, I read a lovely New York Times article on “Hope in a Time of Cynicism” […]

As another calendar year ends, I invite you to take a moment and review all that we have accomplished. I am deeply grateful for each of your contributions and proud of all that we have accomplished as a team. Thank you, and I look forward to our continued work in 2026! Hello, and happy holidays. […]

On Gratitude: Reflecting on Our Shared Commitment to Learning and Growth In the fast pace of academic medicine, it is easy to move quickly from one milestone to the next without pausing to appreciate the collective effort that sustains our shared purpose. This season invites us to do just that—to recognize the people and experiences […]

Finding Joy Amidst Challenge As we enter October, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that this year has presented us all with a myriad of challenges. Whether in our professional lives or personal journeys, many (maybe all) have faced both uncertainty and change, and this month is certainly no exception. Our resilience and […]

WashU Medicine’s Educational Technology and Innovation Unit (ETIU) is being updated to align with emerging needs in educational technology, instructional design, data strategy, and artificial intelligence. The updated ETIU, under the leadership of Associate Dean Carolyn Dufault and Director Emily W. Thompson, will continue to include instructional design services and at-the-elbow educator support through the […]

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth. Robert Frost from “The Road Not Taken” In this newsletter, we announce the departure of two people who have given tirelessly to […]

In July, I celebrated my 25th year of being ‘on service,’ that is, supervising residents and interns on the inpatient Internal Medicine Service. July is a time of transition; new interns begin their first clinical rotations as MDs, with new responsibility and accountability, and new residents transition to roles of supervision of interns and students. Each […]

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes in waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” – Vicki Harrison I should have seen it sooner, but I didn’t. I was in a meeting about budget cuts and reductions in travel and […]

As I reflect upon the past month, it is with a heavy heart that I acknowledge the profound challenges that have tested our resilience. The devastating tornado that tore through our region has deeply impacted our community – uprooting individuals, damaging our environment, and tragically claiming lives within the greater St. Louis area. Many of […]