University of Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and 10 of UNMC’s top leaders will visit four sites in Nebraska on June 21-22. This is the group’s ninth annual Greater Nebraska trip.
The team will travel to Fremont, West Point, Norfolk and Wayne, to meet with organizations and community members to listen to their concerns and learn how UNMC can better serve the people of Nebraska. They also will talk about recent successes in UNMC’s education, research and patient care mission, and the recent opening of the new home to the College of Public Health, the Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health. Health care reform and its impact also will be addressed.
Receptions will be hosted by various local organizations.
With an academic, research and clinical presence in more than 100 Nebraska communities, Dr. Maurer often refers to UNMC’s “500-mile campus.”
“The trip is my favorite trip of the year. It’s a chance to visit with people and learn about their ideas for how UNMC can better serve the state. It’s also an opportunity for us to share what UNMC is doing to improve the health of Nebraska,” Dr. Maurer said. “We are committed to making sure the world-class resources we have here are available no matter where in Nebraska one lives. Everything we do is done on behalf of Nebraskans.”
In April the UNMC College of Public Health moved into the new Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health. Established in January 2007, the college provides health science education, research and outreach to improve the health of the population of Nebraska.
Other successes/milestones:
· UNMC’s primary care, research and rural medicine education programs all moved up in the 2012 U.S.News & World Report rankings of the nation’s top graduate schools. The primary care program ranked seventh and rural medicine ranked 15th.
· Last December UNMC broke ground on the Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute, which is expected to transform vision care in the region. The eye institute will bring clinicians, researchers and patients together in one state-of-the-art facility featuring specialized care and the latest in diagnostic medicine. It will offer hope to people suffering from blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma. It is expected to be completed in late 2012.
· Earlier this year, the UNMC College of Pharmacy expanded opportunities to students interested in studying pharmacy with three seats set aside at Peru State College through the Rural Health Opportunities Program. Students selected for the program will receive a full tuition waiver while enrolled at Peru State.
· Students hoping to obtain a degree in the public health field now have more options to do so through a new program introduced by the UNMC College of Public Health in collaboration with the Nebraska State College System and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. PHEAST, or the Public Health Early Admission Student Track, targets undergraduate students who are interested in a degree in public health and who are enrolled in their sophomore year at one of the state colleges or UNK.
Joining Dr. Maurer on the trip will be:
Bob Bartee, vice chancellor for external affairs;
Kenneth Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director, UNMC Eppley Cancer Center
Charles Krobot, Pharm.D., associate dean, UNMC College of Pharmacy;
Mike Leibowitz, Ph.D., director, Munroe-Meyer Institute
Rod Markin, M.D., Ph.D., interim dean, College of Medicine;
Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., associate dean, School of Allied Health Professions;
David Crouse, Ph.D., interim vice chancellor for academic affairs;
Ayman El-Mohandes, M.B.B.Ch., M.D., M.P.H., dean, College of Public Health;
John Reinhardt, D.D.S., dean, College of Dentistry;
Sarah Thompson, Ph.D., Niedfelt Distinguished Professor and associate dean of academic programs, College of Nursing.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.
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