To celebrate its 25th class reunion, the College of Medicine Class of 1962 established an award to honor UNMC basic science teachers.
“Those individuals set the bedrock of our education at the medical school and gave us an excellent foundation for our clinical experiences,” class member Pat O’Gara, M.D., said of the Class of 1962 Basic Science Teaching Award, which his class established in 1987. The award is given annually and comes with a $10,000 stipend.
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| Bill Orr, M.D., and his classmates from the College of Medicine Class of 1962 have established a scholarship to help medical students or UNMC medicine alumns pursue master’s of public health degrees at the medical center. |
The class celebrates its 50th reunion this week and once again has put its support behind an important cause.
It has set up a scholarship to support a physician alumnus or medical student who would like to pursue a master’s in public health at UNMC. The class aims to provide a $10,000 scholarship annually.
“Public health is not well-identified and recognized by physicians in general and yet it’s very important that more physicians become involved in this area, especially with an increase in public health programs in both the government and private sectors,” said Dr. O’Gara, a clinical assistant professor in the department of anesthesiology.
Better integration
More physicians in the public health service will help integrate public health efforts among physicians in the private practice field, said Bill Orr, M.D., a member of the Class of 1962 who was on the UNMC obstetrics and gynecology faculty from 1966 to 1973 before he moved into private practice in Omaha.
Ease the burden
“More medical students would likely be interested in public health studies if it weren’t for the financial strain they accrue as they pay for medical school,” Dr. O’Gara said. “Therefore, the need for student scholarships become even greater.”
Generous leaders
The Class of 1962 has been a leader in its philanthropy, said Anne Constantino of the University of Nebraska Foundation, who noted that the 1987 award — the first annually-bestowed gift established by a UNMC medical school class — sparked a tradition among other classes to make gifts in their 25th and 50th reunion years.
Since 1987, the annual reunion honor classes — 25th and 50th class reunion years — have since combined to give more than $2.6 million to the College of Medicine, she said.
“They started that tradition of giving and they will now be the first class to do both an award for its 25th and 50th reunions,” Constantino said.