A fairly new opportunity for HITS and Michigan Medicine IT employees are “Go-and-Sees,” interactive events that offer staff members a chance to gain hands-on knowledge and experience regarding other Michigan Medicine areas by visiting those labs, clinics, or offices.
During a typical Go-and-See, participants learn the ins and outs of that department and the roles of the employees. These events provide much benefit by allowing employees to see how their work impacts the people they support. They also give participants the opportunity to learn how other parts of Michigan Medicine work, enabling them to provide better support.
“You get to see the connection between what you do and what the results are. In turn, that helps motivate people and helps them feel that they are contributing to something in a positive way,” said Stratos Kotzabassi, HITS Customer Relationship Manager, who also helps facilitate Go-and-Sees in various research departments.
Go-and-Sees also help fulfill and bridge the gap between the technology and how it relates to Michigan Medicine’s three main missions: education, patient care, and research.
“We don’t always have clear insight into what is happening in those missions. We understand how to support the technology piece, but how that technology we support translates into patient care, research, and education is not always obvious,” Kotzabassi explained.
In addition to supporting the missions, Go-and-Sees are useful in offering employees a chance to engage with their customers. Some employees are rarely able to converse with their customers, causing them to miss out on key connections that are needed to better support them.
During a visit to the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, participants observed bipolar disorder research activities and how the structure of neurons may contribute to the disease. Participants also saw how the researchers took skin cells, transformed them to brain cell,s and used them to perform a neural network to conduct the research.
At another recent Go-and-See at Central Biorepository, attendees were shown the lab where biological samples are stored and how they are distributed. They learned the importance behind the use of technology in these labs and how it benefits researchers.
Other Go-and-Sees have included the Canton Health Center, the Clinical Simulation Center, and the Pathology Department in their newly constructed space.
For more information on Michigan Medicine Go-and-Sees, contact Stratos Kotzabassi at skotzaba@med.umich.edu.
