The student becomes the teacher

I was so proud to see my friend and longtime colleague Carol awarded Volunteer of the Year yesterday. I’m a little fuzzy on exactly who shares this honor with me, but I get at least some of the credit for hiring her into her first post-grad school job. 20 years ago!! I’ve learned a lot from her, and I can only hope I’ve contributed something to her over the years… at least some things to NOT do.

The project that catapulted her to this dizzy height was a 3-year (!) effort to define an inclusive and affirming set of gender codes. Now, there’s a standard way to record a meaningful gender in the medical record for all those people who used to be lumped into “Other”. High profile, sensitive, contentious… you can see how steering that ship earns you an award.

Well done Carol!!