After heading emergency medicine for 17 years at UNMC, Robert Muelleman, M.D., has announced his intentions to step down as department chairman.
Bradley Britigan, M.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine, said he will begin a search immediately for Dr. Muelleman’s replacement. In the meantime, Dr. Muelleman will continue to serve as chairman until a replacement is found. He will remain on the faculty as professor, emergency medicine, after he finishes his chairmanship.
“Dr. Muelleman has done an incredible job of creating and building the department,” Dr. Britigan said. “Without question, he took our program to the next level. His accomplishments have been outstanding. We can’t thank him enough for his devoted service and wish him all the best as he enters the next stage of his career.”
A 1984 UNMC College of Medicine graduate, Dr. Muelleman completed his residency at University of Missouri-Kansas City and Truman Medical Center. He served on the emergency medicine faculty at UNMC from 1988 to 1993, then went back to UMKC from 1993 to 1998 to serve as director of research in emergency medicine.
He returned to UNMC to become chief of emergency medicine in 1998, shortly after the 1997 merger of Clarkson Hospital and University Hospital, which created a need for a medical director for the three EDs in the system.
“The merger opened the door for me to return to Omaha,” Dr. Muelleman said. “I’ve been fortunate to be one of the few leaders to manage a department from the merger through to the current integration.
“When I started, my goals were to recruit academic faculty, develop a residency program and create a department. I’m proud to say we accomplished all these things, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the faculty. They did the heavy lifting.
“The past year has really been hectic in the ER, but things have stabilized. I feel like the time is right to step down – 17 years is a long time.”
Dr. Muelleman is an at large member of the Executive Committee of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), the certification board for emergency physicians with more than 30,000 members. Following normal board progression that means he will serve as president of the ABEM in three years.
“I’m proud to be on the ABEM board,” he said. “It is the specialty defining organization for emergency medicine, whose mission is to ensure the highest standards in the specialty of emergency medicine. At the same time, it is a huge commitment that involves quite a bit of travel – another reason I wanted to reduce my administrative workload at UNMC.”
Congratulations, Bob. You transformed emergency care in the region and established a truly outstanding residency program. On to the next adventure.
Bob,
Congratulations! You've done an extraordinary job I of building a unit from the ground up that is among the best. and has served this community and state extraordinarily well. Hal Maurer.
Wow, 18 years !! Bob, Kudos to your leadership and vision and to your team for advancing emergency care and the training of future Emergency care physicians . Well done.
Bob:
congratulations on a job well done. Making a signature contribution at your own school is a defining accomplishment. Mike Sorrell
Bob: You have indeed built both an excellent clinical and academic department of emergency medicine with some very productive faculty. Your leadership will be missed.
Big time congratulations, Dr. Muelleman! Incredible accomplishments!