Category: Eva’s Excerpt

More than 50 years ago, P. Roy Vagelos, MD, and Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth, MD, shared a conviction: that the best science happens when disciplinary walls come down. That conviction led to the 1973 founding of the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences — a bold experiment in joint governance between the School of […]

The new academic year at WashU Medicine does not begin with a starting gun. It begins in waves — interns and fellows arriving in June and July, students in July and August, each group stepping into work that never actually stopped. There is no true quiet stretch to come back from. The wards stay full. […]

I encountered this quote on a T-shirt last month and it struck me as relevant to us and our work, perhaps now more than ever. Often attributed to Nelson Mandela, “I never lose. I either win or learn,” captures something essential about how the most effective people, and the most resilient institutions, move through the […]

Over the past ten years, Washington University School of Medicine has made education a strategic priority worthy of sustained investment. Not all of you were here for the ride, so I thought it would be good to tell the story, this month, the last month of Dr. Perlmutter’s ten-year tenure as Dean of the School […]

EVA’S EXCERPT, MAY 2026 This is a season of extraordinary achievement. As we gather to celebrate the Class of 2026, we do so with profound gratitude, immense pride, and great optimism for the future of human health. TO OUR GRADUATES: Your journey to this milestone has been marked by dedication, sacrifice, intellectual courage, and an […]

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about transitions. Many people conflate change and transitions, but William Bridges, author and organizational change expert, described the difference as: “Change is an event but a transition is the process that you go through in response to the change.” Transition is inherently an emotional process that begins with […]

My heart goes out to everyone with family, friends or loved ones in or near conflict zones. I hope for their safety and peace. In times like these, words can feel both necessary and inadequate — it’s easy to worry about saying the wrong thing while many around us may be scared, sad or grieving. […]

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 […]

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 […]

As we transition into May and Commencement, I find myself reflecting on the transformative journeys that we have shared with our learners. The end of April was a particularly poignant reminder of the enduring impact of mentors and teachers, as we celebrated our annual Alumni Weekend and the Distinguished Service Teaching Awards. Reconnecting with alumni […]

Caring for Yourself and Others in Times of Change and Challenge Amid our turbulent political climate, shifting medical, research and educational landscapes, and the normal, but still challenging, ups and downs of life, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. March and April are filled with milestones, both exciting and stressful, some annual and some intermittent: Match […]

At the February Academy of Educators meeting, Dr. Casey Reimer (Director of Deaf Education Studies and Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology) submitted a terrific teaching pearl. She challenged us to reflect on our most impactful teachers, exploring why they stuck out. I LOVE this teaching pearl, and I loved the answers my colleagues shared. The exercise […]

In the words of Lucian De Crescenzo, “We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.” I frequently get asked what brought me to WashU Medicine. My answer is simple: the opportunity to link two things that have always driven me – educational innovation and […]