Culture Analysis - Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) is a world-renowned health system with a network of hospitals in the US and internationally, a robust clinic system that consists of community and specialty physicians, and a top ranked research-intensive school of medicine that trains and employs physicians and scientists within the University. It is an organization known for its positive and rich culture. In 2010 Johns Hopkins Healthcare received the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) award for the best onboarding training program. The program is a one-week training that immerses new employees in the rich culture and history of the university and medical center. The training itself isn’t remarkable, it’s the stories told that demonstrate why the longstanding culture of excellence, compassion, and discovery has been retained with great integrity and admiration which make its culture so remarkable.
The culture of JHM started with the man Johns Hopkins. Hopkins’ was one of Baltimore’s greatest philanthropists, who earned his fortune as a banker and “looked for ways to use his wealth to benefit others since he had no wife or children to inherit his money”. Towards the end of his life his vision was to use his wealth to “build a hospital that would be linked with a medical school, which in turn was to be a part of a university, a radical idea that later became the model for all academic medical institutions” (2023). In his explanatory letter to his trustees it included the following details and vivid picture, “The indigent sick of this city and its environs, without regard to sex, age, or color, who may require surgical or medical treatment, and who can be received into the hospital without peril to the other inmates, and the poor of this city and state, of all races, who are stricken down by any casualty, shall be received into the hospital without charge… you will thus be enabled to afford to strangers, and to those of our own people who have no friends or relatives to care for them in sickness, and who are not objects of charity, the advantage of careful and skillful treatment” (Sachs, 2018). This vivid picture he so carefully curated in his old age gave birth to a great university and hospital that continues to this day to set the precedent for modern day discovery in science and medicine, compassionate community-based care, and a center of excellence for teaching and training future physicians and scientists.
Since its beginnings, Johns Hopkins Medicine has been the birthplace of life saving advancements in medicine such as the ‘blue baby’ operation. The story behind this advancement became the focus of a true and inspirational 2004 HBO movie “Something the Lord Made” (1990-2023). New employees during the onboarding training are given a tour of the historic and original Johns Hopkins Hospital, and during the tour the new hires are shown the location of the first successful blue baby surgery and photos of the healthy baby post-operation. They are also shown “Christus Counsolator, the 10.5-foot statue of Jesus Christ housed beneath The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s iconic dome…” And told how “every day, countless prayers, blessings and thanksgivings are made at the feet of this awe-inspiring sculpture” (2023). They see how the one foot of Christ is shiny and are told the story behind its shiny foot – how for years trainees and physicians have rubbed the foot of this enormous welcoming statue for good luck before entering clinical duties, surgeries, and more. The legend of how ‘rounding’, the practice of regularly going from bedside to beside assessing patients’ pain, position, and general care was given its name because the practice originated in the round hospital halls surrounding the iconic dome. This profound experience is shared by patients, staff, and all those who enter the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus; and draws patients from around the world to Johns Hopkins Medicine for healing, hope, and compassionate care. The history is memorialized in plaques, signs, and artifacts throughout the buildings. The mission, vision, and values that are taught to employees, new faculty, trainees, and postdoctoral scholars are embedded in the first moments and days through this immersive experience. The compassion, tradition of discovery and excellence from Johns Hopkins’ original vision are internalized by these new hires. It becomes their inherited responsibility to uphold the integrity of Johns Hopkins past vision, and current and future vision, mission, values, and culture.
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Resources
(2023). About Johns Hopkins Medicine. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about
(1999-2023). IMDb.com. (2004, May 30). Something the Lord Made. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386792/
Sachs, K. (2018, August 13). Hope, healing and a 122-year legacy. Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2018/08/hope-healing-and-a-122-year-legacy