Katrina Armstrong

What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?
Academic medicine holds an incomparable position within the United States as the guardian of three important social goods: the discovery of new knowledge to improve the health of individuals and of our population, the training of physicians to care for the sick and preserve health among the well, and the delivery of advanced and effective care to patients in need. Advances in science and health care financing over the last decades have created a unique opportunity for academic medicine to do even more to advance these missions - to move discovery to treatment more quickly and more broadly, to expand our efforts in health promotion and disease prevention, and to train leaders who are so committed to these missions that they achieve the impossible. My inspiration comes each day from the unparalleled level of talent and commitment among the physicians, students and staff at the MGH - each of whom believes in our ability and responsibility to make a difference to our individual patients and to the future of medicine.

What is the signifigance of the object you brought with you to the photo shoot?
History is such an important part of the future of any institution, including the Massachusetts General Hospital. Founded over 200 years ago to care for the most vulnerable in the Boston community, the MGH is built on commitment to individual service, clinical and scientific excellence, and community responsibility. The medical service has a long tradition of leading in these domains and the history of the medical service has become an important touchstone for me as I steer the Department forward in the current era. Although the challenges we face now seem new to us, this book about the history of the MGH from 1955 to 1980 reminds me that each generation faces significant challenges and it is our commitment to those enduring values of service, excellence and community that determines how our history will be written.