With health care reform on the horizon, this is a challenging time to be dean of a medical school.
But, for Bradley Britigan, M.D., new dean of the UNMC College of Medicine, life is good.
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Tom O’Connor |
He says the UNMC College of Medicine is on “solid financial ground and in far better shape than most other U.S. medical schools.”
Although UNMC’s state funding remained essentially flat this year, Dr. Britigan sees this as a positive. “We were lucky,” he said. “In most states, funding was reduced.” At his previous employer, the University of Cincinnati, state funding was reduced by nearly15 percent.
He has been impressed by the “quality, commitment and leadership” of the College of Medicine faculty and the philanthropic support that UNMC receives from the community.
So, what’s on his agenda?
One of his first goals as dean is to develop better integration between the College of Medicine, its primary hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, and its physician practice plan, UNMC Physicians.
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Bradley Britigan, M.D. |
A smooth transition
From a personal standpoint, the move to Omaha has been smooth for Dr. Britigan and his wife, Denise, a faculty member in the UNMC College of Public Health.
A Minnesota native, Dr. Britigan grew up in St. Louis. He loves sports and the arts. He coached his two children, played soccer in high school and played slow pitch softball up to the time he left Cincinnati for Omaha. He wants to resurrect his golf game, as well as his violin skills.
Husker/Hawkeye connections
As someone who worked at the University of Iowa for 17 years, Dr. Britigan looks forward to Nov. 25 when the Hawkeyes play Nebraska. Surprisingly, he’ll root for the Huskers.
He has started to catch a bit of Big Red Fever but the game also is a great opportunity to have some fun with his son-in-law, a huge Hawkeyes fan.
And on that note, welcome to Nebraska, Dr. B!