The Mark Thoelke, MD, SFHM Visiting Professorship was started in 2022 as a way to honor the legacy of previous Division Chief Mark Thoelke. Since 2022, the division has enjoyed lectures from several amazing speakers from a variety of hospitals. The visiting professor for 2025 was G. Randy Smith Jr., MD, MS, FRCP, SFHM. Dr. Smith is an Associate Professor for the Division of Hospital Medicine at Northwestern Medicine.
Division Chief Mark Williams introduced Dr. Smith to the faculty and staff, noting that Mark had been a mentor and friend to Randy for many years. Dr. Smith was an incredible choice for visiting professor, as a career hospitalist with over 20 years of dedication to quality improvement projects across 11 U.S. hospitals, and a strong passion for integrating research, technology, and clinical care.
Randy delivered a compelling lecture titled, “Clinical Governance, Shared Autonomy, and Crisis Management,” in which he explored the avenues through which improvements can be made in the hospital and challenged the listener to consider what role they play in creating and implementing positive change. Hospitalists left the lecture feeling inspired to take action.
After the lunchtime lecture, Dr. Smith was able to enjoy a few days with the division members, as well as providing an important presentation on malpractice and mitigating risk at the 15th Annual Gateway Hospital Medicine Conference.
Thank you to Dr. Smith for presenting such relevant and important information for the division.