Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Print and Digital Publishing: External Audience
Gold
Best in Show Finalist
Over the past several years, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, has been transitioning from its former university parent to its longtime clinical partner, Montefiore Medical Center, a unified health system that includes several regional hospitals. The semiannual Einstein magazine is the premier product of Einstein’s communications department, and we wanted it to reflect the changing relationship with Montefiore and the opportunities this change brings.
Magazines today must justify their existence. Our magazine’s editors and the marketing team have made the case that Einstein magazine is an excellently conceived, beautifully designed product that can do more to explain, promote, and celebrate the Einstein-Montefiore relationship and how it improves education, research, and clinical care across the enterprise. Simultaneously, we wanted to keep the enduring mission of our magazine in mind: improving pride and morale of internal audiences, engaging donors and alumni, positioning Einstein-Montefiore as a premier research-intensive medical school and academic medical center, and emphasizing the social mission of our joint enterprise.
What was the most impactful part of your entry?
We choose each cover story carefully, because we had important goals to reach for each, which we met: First, we needed to create content that demonstrated the case for our cancer center to earn “Comprehensive” status, and it was so well received that it was used in our cancer center’s promotional materials geared to National Cancer Institute site visits. The center earned the designation this fall. Second, our development office asked us to advocate for a much-needed in-patient child mental health center. Our campaign to raise awareness of teen mental health resulted in major donor funding of a pediatric in-patient mental health unit, and a follow-up magazine article is in the works.
What challenge did you overcome?
Photography was a particular challenge in each issue. One story profiled a physician researcher, who is working with women in Rwanda who have HIV, and another story featured teen patients who detailed their struggles with mental health issues. In the first instance, we consulted our legal team and decided to picture only community health workers or Rwandan health professionals, not patients, to protect their privacy. In the second, we were able to find teenagers and young adults who were willing to be photographed as part of an arts and integrative medicine program. We also consulted with their parents and obtained their written permission to use the photos in our cover story.
Contact: Susan Byrne
susan.byrne@einsteinmed.edu