With the academic year coming to a close, it’s a perfect time to salute the faculty who excel in educating future generations of health professionals.
As detailed in this newsletter, one faculty member – Geoffrey Talmon, M.D. – earned his seventh consecutive Golden Apple Award and will move into the Golden Apple Hall of Fame. He’ll be only the seventh faculty member to receive this recognition.
Being named to any Hall of Fame is special. But, for the Golden Apple, it’s like getting your own apple tree. It’s a great accomplishment, and it speaks volumes for Dr. Talmon’s teaching skills.
Thankfully, Dr. Talmon is not alone. We have a bevy of outstanding teachers who make sure our students are well prepared when they graduate from UNMC and enter residency training.
Spring is always a hectic time of year for academic medical centers. This month’s newsletter is jammed with a variety of items reflecting the busy pace at UNMC. These include:
- A myriad of research and mentoring awards;
- The Circle of Distinction event honoring our endowed chairs and professors and the donors who made these endowed positions possible;
- A unique partnership with Girls Inc. that will allow us to provide even more clinical care to the citizens of north Omaha while enhancing the educational experience of health sciences students from multiple disciplines across campus;
- The College of Medicine being recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians as one of the top 10 programs in the country in producing family physicians;
- The medical center being certified as a treatment center of excellence for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); and
- The addition of Michael Ash, M.D., as chief transformation officer of the Clinical Enterprise. Dr. Ash is real find for our medical center. He will lead the effort in using information technology to enable us better integrate our clinical enterprise and make our health care safer, more efficient and of higher quality.
Finally, I’m pleased to report that things are progressing nicely in addressing the concerns of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which accredited the College of Medicine this year but with a “warning” status.
We will be holding an all-day retreat on May 28 to look at committee reports and recommendations for our curriculum. I’m confident that we will address the concerns identified by the LCME and look forward to the visit of the LCME secretariat at the end of June. The secretariat will provide input regarding our plans to further improve them before they are submitted for approval by the LCME at the end of July.
Enjoy the nice spring weather that has finally arrived, and thanks for all you do to make our college great.
Way to go Dr. Talmon!!!