As 27 students listened closely, Gary Sickmann, Cass County farmer and
sales representative, calmly ticked off a series of personal farm accidents
— any one of which has proved fatal to other people. At age 10,
he rolled a tractor into a ditch while helping his dad. When he was
21, his arm caught in the beater of a silage wagon, and at 35, a huge round
bail of hay fell off a tractor on top of him.
Sickmanns message to the group of Winter 2000 workshop students being
hosted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center was simple. At
any given moment in rural life, there is a need for highly trained medical
providers. It is this ever growing need for rural health professionals
that drives the vision of UNMC and Rural Health Education Network to continually
encourage rural Nebraskans to enter the medical fields and to return to
serve their local communities.
The 8th annual workshop focused on farm safety. The pre-med students
came from several state institutions including Wayne State College, Hastings
College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University,
University of Nebraska at Kearney and Creighton University. They
learned about the relative skills that can help them in their future endeavors
as rural health-care practitioners. All the participants have expressed
a desire to return to a rural setting to practice their professions.
Most rural Nebraska students grow up hearing about or even knowing
people who have experienced farm accidents, said Roxanna Jokela, RHEN
coordinator. Gary Sickmann personalized issues that have been documented
in numerous research studies. We wanted to inform the students of
the causes and effects of farm safety.
Gary wanted to impress upon the students the added value and impact
they can have on local health care when they return home as medical professionals.
The students hometowns and colleges are listed below:
ALBION Susan Krohn Wayne State College
AURORA Ben Greenfield, Kerri Thomsen Nebraska Wesleyan University,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
BARTLETT Leah Shavlik — University of Nebraska-Kearney
BLUE HILL Stacia McFarland — Wayne State College
CLARKSON Sara Podany — Wayne State College
CORDOVA Bridget Noler Creighton University
ELKHORN Heidi Redelfs University of Nebraska-Lincoln
GRAND ISLAND Alison Keyser (Nebraska Wesleyan University), Lindsey
Hartmann, Bill Lawton (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
GIBBON Leslie Wilke — University of Nebraska-Kearney
HAYES CENTER Nolan May — Nebraska Wesleyan University
HOOPER Renae Schlaebitz — Nebraska Wesleyan University
INDIANOLA Bree Quigley Hastings College
JOHNSON Andrea Ottemann — University of Nebraska-Kearney
LAUREL Cory Lindsay — Wayne State College
MULLEN Emily Blanchard — University of Nebraska-Kearney
NORFOLK Melissa Beery, Matt Nealeigh — Wayne State College
NORTH PLATTE Todd Jensen — University of Nebraska-Kearney
PIERCE Shawn Wade — Wayne State College
PLATTSMOUTH Kristina Garnett University of Nebraska-Kearney
PLEASANT DALE Valerie Piening University of Nebraska-Lincoln
SEWARD Doug Hentzen — Nebraska Wesleyan University
WYNOT Quinn Heimes Wayne State College
YUMA, COLORADO Chandra Cullen — Hastings College
For more information about the Winter Workshop, contact Jokela at (402)
559-8946.
UNMC is the only public, academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. Nearly $32
million in research grants and contracts were awarded to UNMC scientists
during the past fiscal year. In addition, UNMCs educational programs are
responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska
than any other institution.