Ralph Snyderman, MD, is Chancellor Emeritus, Duke University, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Center for Research in Personalized Health Care at the Duke University School of Medicine. He previously served as Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University and as the founding President and CEO of the Duke University Health System; Dean of the School of Medicine at Duke University; Chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges; Senior Vice President, Medical Research and Development, Genentech, Inc.; Director, Laboratory of Immune Effector Function, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Chief, Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at Duke; and Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Snyderman has received numerous honors, including the Personalized Medicine World Conference Pioneer Award (2016), the North Carolina Life Sciences Leadership Award (2014), the Association of American Medical Colleges David E. Rogers Award (2012), the Industr
Learning the Business
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Published:October 2016
Dr. Snyderman describes his view of the operation of the medical center when he arrived in 1989 and his establishment of plans to maintain and enhance the functions of the institution. He learns the details of all the departmental structure, operating units, develops strategic planning, and begins to realize the need for major change. He did this, for example, through an experiment called “follow the sheet,” which enabled him to learn the unacceptable conditions under which the hospital laundry employees labored. Duke’s legacy of segregation and racial inequality came to the fore in this and subsequent efforts to reform and improve the institutional environment of the medical center.
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