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Inspiring Others to Make the World a Better Place
We believe that when you combine a curious mind,
a tenacious will and an industrious spirit
with a caring heart you have the power
to transform your life and the world around you!
Daniel Johnson, md
Professor of Pediatrics,
University of Chicago Medicine
One of my life goals is improving the quality of care for patients, so projects directed at this topic are interesting and worthwhile. I have undertaken many such projects over the years. ECHO-Chicago, which I founded and direct, is in many ways a culmination of the many things I have learned about how to effectively improve the health and lives of patients. ECHO-Chicago’s goal is to improve access to high quality care for underserved populations having difficulty receiving care for common chronic medical and behavioral conditions. We take an asset-based approach, leveraging the presence of community based primary care providers, an already amazing community resource for improving the lives of patients, and improve their skills at taking care of patients.
1. What drives your interest in tackling problems?
We bring them together through a virtual room with subject matter experts who can share their knowledge and experience through interactive case-based learning. Not a webinar, but shared experience that leads to shared learning, one of the most effective ways for moving knowledge from one person to the next. The most interesting and most worthwhile problems we address through our work are those that are especially challenging for the provider and where the impact on the quality of life for patient and provider is especially far reaching.
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2. What impact has CTF support had on your work?
Our project is to build an ECHO program in China as a path to improve care delivery there. ECHO is a proven platform for reaching and improving primary care delivery and is present on all continents and in over 200 countries with more than a 1000 ECHO programs worldwide. Until this project, China was an exception. CTF is the reason why we can be in China. CTF saw the value of the ECHO program and worked with us in partnership to design the project now underway. With the valuable input of CTF, its strong commitment to collaboration and cooperation, and generous underwriting,
along with our partnering program in Shanghai at the Tongji University School of Medicine, we collectively designed a project for improving healthcare delivery at the community level. This is the first step towards building an independent Chinese operated ECHO program hub that will hopefully inspire the creation of multiple ECHO hubs all over the country serving Chinese providers and people.
3. What inspires you to give back?
My ultimate goal in life is to contribute to making the world a better place for others and ECHO- Chicago is a platform for doing that. What inspires me is the feedback we receive from those who have used ECHO-Chicago programs to improve their skills and the impact that in turn has on people who otherwise might have gone without timely needed care. My upbringing and culture have always emphasized the importance of work and looking after not only those who you love but also others as well.
Growing up in Chicago on the southside of the city helped me to see firsthand the consequences of racism, sexism, antisemitism, and other forms of oppression. All that sensitized me to the need to fight for not just my own place in the world but for righting the wrongs that others experience. I am privileged by how our society operates and I should pay forward the advantages I have experienced to help those who are not as fortunate. To quote former US President John F
Kennedy, “One person can make a difference and every person must try.” That thought inspires me to give back.