What's Your Story?

Educating those who serve has been a cornerstone of our mission since Cleveland Clinic was founded more than a century ago. In this issue of Cleveland Clinic Magazine, we celebrate the power of education.

We also give a tip of the mortarboard to you. The generosity of our donors empowers all that we do to fully prepare the caregivers of today and tomorrow. “[P]hilanthropy plays a crucial rule,” Education Institute Chair James Stoller, MD, says in our interview with him. “It supports the infrastructure necessary for training.”

In our cover story, you’ll meet three doctors who were members of the very first cohort to enter Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine two decades ago. Reading their profiles, I was struck by how sometimes we end up exactly where we’re supposed to be via a series of surprising twists and turns that lead far afield from our original plans. I’m sure many of you can relate. I know I can.

I find myself thinking back to a journalism 101 course that I took as an undergraduate at Indiana University. We learned the fundamentals of reporting: Who? What? Where? When? Why? We also learned how to tell a good story. 

Even though my journey ultimately led down a different career path, those lessons continue to serve me well. The best part of my job is getting to know people like you and immersing myself in your personal narratives. Behind every gift in support of our mission of care, research and education, a story is waiting — and nothing fascinates me more than learning about the “Why?” that drives your giving. 

We may not be writers per se. But together, we’re co-authors of this latest chapter in the storied history of Cleveland Clinic. 

As the acclaimed poet, novelist and essayist Margaret Atwood put it so well: “In the end, we’ll all become stories.” 

Let’s make ours a good one.