As I embark on the endeavor of leading the Department of Family Medicine through this time of leadership transition, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Philip Zazove for his humble, courageous leadership over the past eleven years. He has left a legacy that will continue to be felt at Michigan Medicine for a very long time. I have learned from him the power of humility. I have seen that a true leader has humility and also a ferociousness, a willingness to speak truth to power, from a place of understanding that we are all interconnected. I offer deep gratitude to Dr. Zazove personally, professionally and on behalf of the entire Department.
As interim chair, I intend to continue Dr. Zazove’s efforts to promote and retain high-quality family physicians to support all of our educational efforts and training for the future family physicians. We will continue to provide excellent primary care for all our patients in our health centers, at our hospitals and in our patients’ homes as we train the future generation and conduct research to further improve our efforts.
Dr. Zazove spearheaded diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within our Department and throughout Michigan Medicine, I intend to further champion this cause. In all areas I will emphasize and engage with models of inclusion to support faculty, trainee, and patient experiences.
Moving forward as a Department - as a community - I want to remind us that our humanity is our greatest strength. We are human first. We are connected to one and other through heart and through deep relationships, with each other, with our learners, with our patients, with our communities. As we transition to a new era of family medicine at the University of Michigan, I will keep this close to heart and challenge us all to do the same. It is a challenging time in health care, yet it is also a time with so much potential for us to make an impact.
