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Message From the Vice Chair: Innovation Rooted in Tradition
An institution takes on the qualities of its leader. As educators, it’s easy to say we prioritize critical thinking, new ideas, and innovation. However, creating an institutional environment where faculty and trainees feel free to embody these principles is a different challenge altogether.
As our department prepares to bid farewell to Randall J Olson, MD, I can unequivocally say he has established a culture where educational excellence and continuous improvement are the ultimate goals, free from ego or fear of change.
Recently, Dr. Olson served as the keynote speaker at our Resident Research Day, reflecting on his remarkable 46-year career. It was a talk filled with pearls of hard-won wisdom, but among them was one I found particularly poignant, both for its relevance and simplicity: Encourage questioning of accepted wisdom.
Our educational program has long boasted engaged faculty, unique learning opportunities, high resident surgical volumes, and trainees committed to maximizing their growth. I am proud to say that we are also well equipped to follow Dr. Olson’s advice.
This edition of Education FOCUS highlights a resident-driven effort to elevate the rigor of our surgical curriculum. In many ways, this effort is a natural outgrowth of our Moran culture, where residents already conduct quality improvement research related to patient care. Now, they are applying these principles to the training process itself.
I believe encouraging resident curriculum engagement, coupled with a renewed emphasis on wellness, is working. Our recent residency program survey results from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education hit a new high as 100% of residents reported they would “definitely choose” Moran for their training again and gave a “very positive” rating evaluation of the program/experience.
As I enter my second year as vice chair, I feel even more motivated to support continued innovation in our proud tradition of excellence. The next generation of clinicians will face exciting new opportunities in the field alongside new challenges. My colleagues and I look forward to helping them rise to both.
Rachel G. Simpson, MD
Vice Chair for Education, John A. Moran Eye Center
Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah
