Dedicated to Dedicating

National Jewish is dedicated. Both in the sense that its healthcare personnel are dedicated to patient care and in the more literal sense, that everything is dedicated by someone to something. Everything.

Got too many awards? Put 'em on a plaque. Got too many award plaques? Put them in a stack on the wall. 



The last plaque is the award for the faculty member with the most awards.

Stack of plaques still insufficient? Use them as wallpaper.

If you rearrange the plaques into the correct order a secret passage opens up. Leading to a room with more plaques.

 

Of course it's not all just about the plaques at NJH. They've also got dedicated bricks.

Dedicated bricks are just like dedicated plaques, but with more Old World charm.

 

And dedicated bricks with plaques.

The greatest honor is getting a brick made out of plaques.

 

Since apparently one can run out of bricks to dedicate there's always plant life and local fauna.

The best woody shrubs are always dedicated first.

Dig donors don't trifle with pea gravel and compost, though. They go straight to dedicating buildings. Unfortunately buildings tend to run out pretty fast. So why not dedicate... parts of buildings?

Best damn vital signs room in the country.

 

 

I guess one should look at all the dedications and memorials as a sign of people's trust in the institution to use their resources wisely and for the benefit of future generations, and less as some over the top onstentatious display or kickback to the plaque-making industry. NJH certainly does good work. It is a little distracting, though. And just a little ridiculous.

 

 

"I dedicate this picture in the name of Mars. Ooh isn't that lovely?"

Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

The Air Force giveth and the Air Force taketh away. All for national security reasons no doubt.

Recently I was given the “opportunity” to “be recognized” for all my “hard work” researching by working harder in order to summarize succinctly all said research on a not very conveniently sized laminated poster. This poster would then be displayed briefly in a room somewhere for people to pass by with indifference. For those not so easily persuaded, the best poster presented would earn the presenter a trip to Toronto to the national American College of Physicians (ACP) conference to take place in the spring. Being the eager, young resident that I was I presented my research like a sucker.

And I won. I won the research poster competition, and so qualified for the national ACP conference and, more importantly, a few days off work in order to attend. Or so I thought. It turns out I won nothing of the sort. Unbeknownst to the majority of us it seems there is a clause that if there are heaven forbid too many winners from our program only the power point research presenters actually really “wins.” Truly we were all winners, yes, but the winner that got the prize was not me. In all fairness I only competed against other Air Force medicine programs and so had a roughly thirty-three percent chance of winning just by showing up and affixing my name and a doodle to a 3x5 card – which in restrospect is what I should have done – but I was not too happy. As consolation prize I was given a plaque, a hardy congratulations, and an offer to return to work promptly to resume my prior duties. Those duties being on call. I would have liked going to Toronto and I would have liked not thinking maybe something nice could happen for my efforts, but Canada’s full of lumberjacks and grizzly bears I hear and nothing builds character like profound disappointment so perhaps it's all for the best.

Meanwhile the research train continues. Where else will it take me? I can only wait and dread.