From the Editor

If you’ve noticed that something looks different with Hopkins Medicine, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. With this edition we are rolling out a refreshed design — one we’ve carefully conceived to capture the evolving world of Johns Hopkins Medicine and keep you more fully engaged with the people and ideas that are leading today’s advances in research and patient care.

Specifically, you’ll find broader coverage of research breakthroughs in Medical Rounds, including a new “Cited” column, and a recurring two-page “Breakthrough” feature story. We also debut a more expansive “Media Matters” section — with “Conversation” and “Viewpoint” — highlighting insights from influential Johns Hopkins columnists, podcasters, authors and others whose ideas are at the vanguard of academic medicine.

Our most loyal longtime readers will no doubt be pleased to see we’ve brought back “Annals” — a feature that takes a trip down memory lane (or perhaps more aptly, N. Broadway St.) to revisit key moments in the school of medicine’s history. And we’ve added a new page for alumni news, spotlighting the many ways you can connect with current students and fellow classmates.

My special thanks goes out to graphic design firm Skelton Sprouls Inc. for leading our team in the redesign effort and for creating an attractive visual style and architecture that so aptly captures the vibrant, forward-looking essence of Johns Hopkins Medicine today.

Feedback

Watch Those Adjectives

Randy Barker was right on target with his insightful letter on not referring to patients as cases [Letters, Fall 2023]. I would add another caveat: It is depersonalizing to refer to patients by the adjective describing their underlining disease, i.e., cystic, diabetic, epileptic, nephrotic, etc. Patients should not be defined by their diagnosis but should be correctly described as persons with a specific diagnosis. Hopefully, this demeaning linguistic style is now passé.

Beryl Rosenstein, M.D.
Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics

Tell Us What You Think

We’d love to know what you think about our “refreshed” design of Hopkins Medicine magazine and some of the new departments that will find a permanent place in our pages in the issues to come. Please drop a note to Sue DePasquale ([email protected]) with your thoughts and feedback.