Across Penn Medicine, great leadership takes many forms in many talented people. But one thing many of the best leaders have in common is recognizing the strengths and achievements of their teams. Dr. Judith Long clearly fits the bill. As you’ll read below, from week one as division chief, she has dedicated time and special effort to help connect General Internal Medicine faculty and staff and share their stories. Her work shows the that she values them, no matter what phase of their career or what type of contribution they’re making to the department and our institution, and by connecting them to one another she empowers them to succeed. When the Department of Medicine did a survey on faculty wellness, it even came up: Judith’s newsletter made her faculty feel valued. Judith, we salute you, and celebrate your leadership, too.
Judith Long, MD Celebrates Staff with The Week in Review
In 2015, at the end of her first week as chief of General Internal Medicine, Judith Long, MD, created and sent out an e-newsletter called The Week in Review to her faculty. “I was just starting a new job and wanted to reach out to people,” she said. She wrote about some of the good things that were happening in the division...and it was an instant success.
Four years later, her “labor of love” still remains popular but, over time, an even more interesting thing has happened. “More and more people outside of the division asked to receive it,” she said. Raina Merchant, MD, director of Penn’s Center for Digital Health and a faculty member in Emergency Medicine, is one big fan from elsewhere in the institution. “There are so many messages in my inbox but I always read this,” she said.
This informal approach to recognizing her faculty’s achievements is an important component of Long’s leadership style. Indeed, she is often her faculty’s biggest cheerleader. “I see myself as an investor, helping people get their ideas off the ground and then helping find a home for projects and innovations that are successful,” she said. For example, a practice at Radnor created an innovative approach to reduce the number of high-risk medications prescribed to elderly patients. “It was so successful that it is now a default in EPIC,” she said. “It’s a clinical innovation that was not written up in a journal but we can still celebrate it.”
Long considers herself a collaborative leader who values “knowing what you are asking others to do and to show that you are not above it yourself.” And while working towards publishing in a prestigious journal or receiving a grant are always top of mind for academic faculty, Long also encourages her faculty to also take on projects for more personally satisfying reasons. “It may be to work with someone you like or to add a layer of meaning to your days… Or it may be as a good citizen giving back to people who have given to you,” she said. “As long as you know your reason, it doesn’t have to be obvious to everyone.”
Long learned leadership style from several mentors in her own life — including David Asch, MD, MBA, executive director of the Center for Health Care Innovation, and Pamela Charney, MD, one of her professors at Weill Cornell Medicine. And she herself has “tons” of mentees, who have become peers and friends. “This gives me huge pleasure,” she said. “One of my favorite parts of my job is helping others to succeed and watching them grow and achieve what they are striving after.”
As for The Week in Review, she plans to continue seeking out stories and churning out issues. “At Penn, there are a ton of places where great work is being done, but no one will know about it because it’s such a huge organization,” Long said. “Now, I’m not just telling my faculty what’s going on in the division but letting others know about the good things as well.”
But it goes beyond just getting out the “good” word. “The Week in Review adds a sense that the work you’re doing is appreciated,” she said. “And it creates spirit and goodwill within the division.”