Each Thursday, we randomly feature a medical center employee.
This week, we learn more about Shawn Smith, project associate in the College of Public Health.
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Shawn Smith |
- Name: Shawn Smith
- Hometown: Omaha, Neb.
- No. of years at UNMC: 8
What is your best memory from your time at UNMC?
I will never forget the first Halloween parade I saw in the DOC atrium. Faculty and staff dressed in costumes and handed out candy and small gifts to pediatric patients who were brought in little red wagons. A couple of Nebraska football players attended. One little boy asked them to sign his cast. They signed it, then handed him a jersey and signed that as well. That little boy had the biggest smile on his face. I think about it that day every time I go into the atrium.
Our four brand values are leadership, commitment to excellence, working together and being a trusted resource. Pick one and tell us a time you witnessed it embodied at UNMC.
I have experienced all four. Nearly three years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. From the moment I met the oncology team at UNMC (and later the radiation oncology team), I knew I had made the right choice for care. I worked with more than 50 health professionals this year and even though they were in different departments, they talked to one another and were always on the same page when it came to my treatment. They were truly interested in my well-being. I always will be grateful for their compassion.
List three things people may not know about you.
- I have collected more than 15,000 recipes. I’m debating if I should wallpaper my kitchen with them to eliminate some of the clutter.
- In1984, I was on TV for a story about how people work outside during a snow storm. I worked at the airport unloading airplanes and the crew followed me and my co-workers around for a couple of days. In the end, it was a two-minute headline story.
- I am a weather buff. I spent two weeks storm-chasing in Kansas and Oklahoma while enrolled in a meteorology course in college. We were chasing an F3 twister when it hit Vinita, Okla., where my grandparents lived — like “Twister.”