Joel Bessmer, M.D., has earned a reputation as one of the brightest and most accessible physicians on the UNMC medical staff.
Always willing to lend a helping hand, Dr. Bessmer was one of 40 Omaha/Council Bluffs business professionals to be honored on Dec. 2 with the 40 Under 40 Award from the Midlands Business Journal.
Each year, the MBJ honors 40 entrepreneurs, business owners, managers and professionals under the age of 40. The event was started in 2002. Since then, four events have been held in Omaha and one in Lincoln with a total of 200 business professionals being recognized.
The awards were established as a way to help counter the “brain drain” of young professionals out of Nebraska by focusing on young people in business and encouraging them, said Bob Hoig, chairman of MBJ Publications Inc.
This year’s recognition breakfast was held at the Holiday Inn Central with nearly 500 people in attendance. Notable attendees included Rep. Tom Osborne, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan and several members of the Omaha City Council.
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., was the keynote speaker at the breakfast. He entertained the crowd by talking about the role of academic medical centers and how they are key to the economic development of a community.
He saluted the community for its support of UNMC. “We’ve had great success because this is a marvelous community,” Dr. Maurer said. “The community wants an outstanding academic medical center. The timing is perfect. It couldn’t be better.”
The chancellor got a chuckle from the audience when he spoke with excitement about the growing use of robots in surgery. “In the future, if you need surgery, we’ll mail you a robot. You will swallow the robot, and it (the surgery) will be done,” he said.
Dr. Bessmer, 39, joined the UNMC faculty in 1997 and currently serves as assistant professor in the section of general medicine in the department of internal medicine. A native of Plainview, Neb., he earned his undergraduate degree from Kearney State College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney, in 1988 and his medical degree from UNMC in 1993. While doing his internal medicine residency at UNMC, Dr. Bessmer was chief resident.
He serves as associate director for the internal medicine residency program, which has approximately 65 residents who spend three years on campus learning the practice of internal medicine. In addition, he is the co-director of the medicine/pediatric residency program at UNMC. He is the medical director for Turner Park Clinic, a resident-run clinic, and also is the medical director for Baker Place Clinic.
A member of the executive committee of the UNMC Faculty Senate, Dr. Bessmer has co-directed the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Board Review Course in Chicago for the past seven years.
The son of a retired truck driver and nurse, Dr. Bessmer’s interest in medicine was spawned by frequent trips to the doctor’s office for broken arms and ear infections as a youth.
In May 2004, he was recognized with the Chancellor’s Gold “U” Award for his outstanding teaching and clinical skills. “I enjoy seeing the positive results of helping patients and of being a teacher and mentor to residents,” he said.
Dr. Bessmer and his wife, Kathy, have 11 children between the ages of 16 years and 8 months. They were joined at the breakfast by Kathy’s parents, John and Rosella Meuret, who are the proud grandparents of 58 children, as well as two of the Bessmers’ daughters – Abigail and Morgen.