Two Seeds I Ask You to Sow and Nurture

Reflection Upon My Retirement After 30 Years at UTHSC and EHS

I was honored to celebrate my retirement with many wonderful colleagues, family and friends on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Chattanooga. I was also honored to receive the title of Professor Emeritus from Peter Buckley, MD, Chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, in a letter read by Dean Haynes.

I’d like to share my retirement talk from that evening in the video and text below. I’ve also pasted some group photos at the end, with gratitude for all of you who attended and those who are part of my memories of these 30 years.

Good evening and thank you all for being here! As I look around the room, I realize many of you have been with me on my journey here at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga and Erlanger, a journey that started more than 30 years ago. I have been here for nearly half my life in various roles. This has been my professional home. Thank you to my UTHSC and EHS family.

As I stand here and reflect on the passage of time including the past 30 years, I see my life’s journey as a vast field filled with different foliage (large oaks with strong sturdy trunks and sheltering branches, tall, elegant evergreens, flexible yet grounded palms, flowering and fruit bearing trees, shrubs of various colors etc). The seeds within this field have been sown by many, right from the earliest days of my life. Many of the seeds have been sown here, both intentionally often but not always with love and care. Some have been sown unintentionally.

Along the journey I have had numerous supporters, who played pivotal roles as teachers and mentors, sponsors and advocates, colleagues, learners, patients, team and community members, prayers partners, shoulders to cry and lean on and friends. Few became my family away from home. These are the gardeners, they helped till and plough the soil, fertilize, and nurture it by providing sunshine, water, and nutrition. They did this through their guidance, encouragement, and wisdom and often by just being there, by their sheltering presence, prayers and support. Their belief in my abilities helped me navigate the various challenges, encouraged me and fueled my determination, pushing me to strive for excellence even in the face of adversity. In this field, however, there also are plants with thorns, and weeds and those threatening to choke the other plants. Though painful, they have kept me humble, reflective, resilient, and taught me the importance of perseverance.

Throughout my journey, I too have planted seeds. My primary focus has been on cultivating the foundational elements of who, we are, our UTHSC-COMC-EHS partnership, or in other words, two important elements:

• Nurturing an environment of healing rooted in providing excellent, efficient and effective, and empathetic patient care and education.

• Intentionally co-creating, promoting authentic and trusting relationships, the foundation and crucial for professional fulfillment and thriving.

As healthcare undergoes so much transformation at such a rapid pace, the pervasive mantra of "no margin, no mission" underscores the challenges of where we are today, a corporate entity, feeling like commodities and consumers. Amidst these pressures, I too as many of you do, grapple with the tension, the balance between our financial sustainability and core mission.

How do we prevent our focus on the margin from overshadowing our mission? As I see it, our mission is to compassionately walk alongside our patients in their most vulnerable moments, to educate and mentor our learners, the future, and to care for and collaborate with colleagues who share our journey! To prioritize the other value units RVU, EVU. These ideals are not and cannot be too lofty for the essence of our calling!

As I’ve sown these seeds, continue to do so in my new role at the ACGME, I’ve also been a student of life. Some seeds have flourished, while others have withered, some crushed, some remain to break open. Some will continue, like at the Hunter Art Museum. Through it all I have tried to remain guided by my core values. I look forward to continuing to sow seeds, I hope with collaboration when possible.

Dean, you had asked me to share what I am passionate about.

There are two seeds that I request you all present to sow and continue to nurture. When we sow a seed we plant a narrative of future possibility.

The first is the seed of trust. Ours is a vocation of relationships, with each other, our stakeholders, our team, society and, the most important, the sacred relationship with our patients. Ours is a vocation of connection yet ironically, we increasingly face loneliness. Trust is the glue that builds community with engagement working towards a common unity.

I invite you to be intentional to sow the seeds of authentic trustworthy human relationships, that speak the language of both the heart and the head!  What does that mean?

As you sow this seed, ask: Are we truly present when we interact with others? Do we engage in respectful dialogue even when we disagree? How do we navigate difficult conversations with empathy and humanity, rather than relying solely on electronic communication? Can we offer explanations face to face when unexpected events occur rather than offer silence or disengagement?

As role models, it’s essential that we prioritize human connection over convenience. It is crucial to uphold the covenant we’ve made as healthcare professionals—not just regarding how we work, how competent we are, rather who we are in our work and how we relate to others. The satisfaction and fulfillment we derive from our work stem from our relationships, which, though slow to build, are inherently fragile and require intentional nurturing. Fruitful relationships grow at the speed of trust. Trust allows us to engage authentically and have the difficult conversations grounded in a shared covenant humanely.

The other seed I ask you to plant is to make a conscious effort to perform daily acts of kindness, even beyond our professional responsibilities.

Thank you for allowing me to share my journey, this journey has been made possible by the unwavering support and love of a close-knit community—from clinical to non-clinical staff, from acquaintances to cherished friends, and most importantly, my family, both blood-related and chosen, family of trust and belonging. I express my profound gratitude to all who have enriched my life—you are my colleagues, patients, their families, team members and students/residents. You have been the blossoms in my field, teaching me invaluable lessons along the way.  Thank you UT-EHS at Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville.

From the earliest days of my life, seeds were sown within me and nurtured by my family. You are the strong oaks that anchor me and shelter me. Your unwavering support provides the most fertile ground, encouraging me to be me! it has been pure joy being your mother, even the terrible teen years, pull hair out.

And to my parents you are the ones who planted the important seeds of dreams, instilled in me the values of hard work, determination, and resilience.  My parents’ unconditional, unwavering support and actions provided the fertile ground in which my aspirations took root and began to grow. Most importantly they planted the seeds of love, faith, prayer and belief.  Especially my mother, whose legacy of prayer and faith has been my guiding light. I wish she was here to witness this moment; I know her spirit permeates every step of my journey.

Thank you for the gift that gives on and will keep on giving.