Since 2014, the medical school has been buoyed by a clear mission and vision, and the important values that define the culture at WMed.
Those values provide a roadmap to excellence. They serve as a reminder that faculty, residents, students, and staff achieve excellence and success together by: promoting innovation and lifelong learning; acting with integrity and professionalism; demonstrating leadership, teamwork, and collaboration; showing compassion for all; and valuing inclusiveness and diversity.
Recently, medical school leaders, including associate deans, department chairs, program directors, and founding dean Dr. Hal B. Jenson reaffirmed the institution’s mission, vision, values, and strategies that are referred to as WMed's Guiding Principles.
As part of that process, Dr. Jenson said leaders formulated what is being termed Values in Action, which are the behaviors that are meant to bring the institution’s values to life through actions.
“These are the key behaviors that exemplify our values,” Dr. Jenson said. “The values, on their own, are just words. What are the behaviors, what are the actions, that actually cause those values to be seen and brought to life?”
The new Values in Action set an expectation and provide principles to guide the actions of everyone at the medical school. They state that together, we:
- Seek to understand
- Respect one another
- Serve with empathy
- Speak up to inform
- Strive for excellence
- Act with integrity
- Celebrate effort and achievement
Dr. Jenson said the Values in Action are the result of a six-month process that included leadership development meetings for the medical school’s associate deans. department chairs, and program directors as well as input from faculty and staff.
“This came out of that group’s work. The medical school leadership takes ownership of the Values in Action as a way to implement the behaviors and patterns that will strengthen the culture we want at WMed,” Dr. Jenson said.
With that in mind, Dr. Jenson said that for the Values in Action to have a positive impact at the medical school, it is imperative that leaders model and facilitate the behaviors each day with everyone they work with.
“As leaders, we put in place the events and processes to create the changes that are needed. Part of our work is to clearly identify our standards for excellence,” Dr. Jenson said. “All of our values and the Values in Action revolve around excellence.”
Additionally, Dr. Jenson said that, in many ways, each member of the WMed community is a leader and must strive to be a catalyst for the Values in Action.
“You don’t have to have a title to be a leader,” Dr. Jenson said. “Everyone cycles in and out of situations each day where they can demonstrate leadership. You can lead by example in everything that you do.”
“We want these Values in Action to reflect who we are together as an institution because they are the actions that will benefit our patients, our learners, and our colleagues, and make WMed a better place each day.”