UNMC for the record

Paul Schenarts, M.D.

Paul Schenarts, M.D., trauma medical director at The Nebraska Medical Center and professor of surgery at UNMC, has accepted the volunteer position of medical director for the Omaha Fire Department, the mayor’s office announced Thursday. “UNMC has a long history of providing medical direction and support to Omaha EMS. I’m honored to continue this tradition of service to the community,” Dr. Schenarts said. Dr. Schenarts is an experienced hospital trauma surgeon, national expert in the field of medical education, flight physician and retired Army surgeon. He served as Chief of Surgery in Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones and received the Combat Medic Award. “Dr. Schenarts’ military record carries a lot of weight with our firefighters,” Interim Fire Chief Bernie Kanger said. “We have many veterans and active-duty reservists working in the Omaha Fire Department. His medical experience in the war zone is impressive.”

Correction: A retirement tea for John Russell will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday in Room 1004 of the Truhlsen Events Center in the Sorrell Center. Thursday’s story on Russell’s retirement incorrectly listed the ending time of the tea.

Michael Feilmeier, M.D.

Michael Feilmeier, M.D., medical director of the international division of ophthalmology at UNMC, is featured in an online Ted Talk presentation. Dr. Feilmeier’s discussion is entitled “Mission Impossible? Eliminating the Global Burden of Cataract Blindness” and can be seen here. Dr. Feilmeier also co-manages UNMC’s Global Blindness Prevention Division, which seeks to be a leader amongst ophthalmic institutions working to eradicate preventable and curable blindness in the developing world.

Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., surgery, has been selected as the 2014 recipient of the Excellence in Medical Leadership Award by the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). The award recognizes a distinguished SAGES member for exemplary leadership potential and helps optimize the honoree’s future impact in the medical industry. Dr. Oleynikov will be honored on April 2 at the 8th Annual SAGES Foundation Awards Luncheon in Salt Lake City.

Liane Connelly, Ph.D.

This fall, Liane Connelly, Ph.D., assistant dean of the College of Nursing North Division, received a clinical writing award from the journal The Kansas Nurse. This award is designated to an author or team that has published in the area of clinical learning and practice. She was the lead author for an article related to the use of dedicated educator clinician roles in nursing education while she served in a department chair role in Kansas. Team members included faculty from three associate degree nursing programs and one BSN nursing program.

Students, faculty and staff from the UNMC College of Nursing Northern Division packaged 4,300 meals for Mercy Meals. Mercy Meals is a non-profit organization that allows volunteers to package nourishing food that will be delivered by the Orphan Grain Train to children throughout the world. Orphanages, refugee camps, feeding centers, disaster relief centers and local food pantries have been recipients of the food.

Carol Pullen, Ed.D.

Carol Pullen, Ed.D., a College of Nursing professor in Omaha, has been invited to serve on the National Institute of Nursing Research’s new Innovative Questions Initiative, entitled “Wellness: Promoting Health and Preventing Illness.” She will join a group of other research and community leaders in this area in January to envision new scientific frontiers around health promotion and illness prevention. Their work will inform NINR’s strategic initiatives in these areas for the next five to 10 years.

Three College of Nursing students from Omaha — Jessica Bowen, Steffan Farrington and Shamia Hassan — have been working with ConAgra Foods to improve the healthy lifestyle of its employees as part of their Nursing 413A population health project. One of their interventions is to get ConAgra employees to participate in Omaha’s Ugly Sweater Run on Dec. 15. The three students and their instructor, Kelly Gonzales, Ph.D., also will be participating in the run.