Soon after I began as director of the Department of Medicine, I recognized the need for an enhanced platform for sharing information with the more than 5,000 DOM employees across multiple locations. In October 2015, we launched the Medicine Matters blog to fulfill that purpose.
After a slow start, reaching just over 4,000 monthly views, the blog found its footing. Today, it boasts an average of over 13,000 monthly views, and its success has inspired other departments and entities both within and outside of Hopkins to create platforms of their own.
More importantly, Medicine Matters has become part of our shared experience. With such a large department, it would be easy to become disjointed—focused only on the people and work we see day-to-day. But part of what is so special about the DOM is the diversity in individuals, roles, research, awards, clinics and more. The more we know about each other, the more we can work together toward a common mission. In a business that is at times bogged down by negativity, I am thankful to have a way to highlight your accomplishments. In fact, your successes—and willingness to share them—have become so great that it has become a challenge to include them all (which is why we now have a Facebook and Twitter too!).
If the past five years are any indication, I believe the blog will continue to grow and evolve to remain the best possible forum to share our successes in patient care, education and discovery as well as photos and stories from the activities happening in our divisions, clinics and laboratories every day. I am pleased to continue the blog, grateful for the inspired and creative work of Kelsey Bennett, communications specialist, to operate it, and most of all delighted to have such wonderfully talented and generous faculty and staff who, both individually and collectively, do so much that merits celebration and promotion on the blog and elsewhere.
As always, if you would like to contribute to Medicine Matters, email [email protected]. Thank you for continued support and interest.
-Mark
Here are some of our most popular posts from the past five years:
- Cooper Named Vice President for Health Equity for Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Osler Program Ranked Top Internal Medicine Residency
- Solomon Receives Avenir Award
- Dorjee and Chaisson Receive Mentee-Mentor Award
- One Minute Guide to: Clostridium Difficile Testing
- Everyday DOM
- Sharma Receives Clinician Scientist Development Award
- Eight from the DOM Named Highly Cited Researchers
- Konstantinidis Receives AAP/ASCI Joint Meeting Travel Award
- Match Day 2019
- Thank You to Nurses in honor of National Nurses Week
