Lookin’ at U – Terry Burke

Each Thursday, we randomly feature a medical center employee. This week, we learn more about:

• Name: Terry Burke
• Hometown: Joliet, Mont.
• No. of years at UNMC: 10 and a half.

Tell us about what you do here at UNMC.

I am a clinical research nurse coordinator working in oncology/hematology. My focus is genitourinary, gastrointestinal and head & neck cancer. I am responsible to the physicians, who are the principal investigators of the trials, for the overall conduct of the study as well as its day-to-day activities including management of the care of the patients enrolled in these trials.

Excellence is one of UNMC’s brand values. Tell us of a time you witnessed a person or group demonstrate a commitment to excellence at UNMC.

I think that it is often easy to point to someone doing a special thing and rightfully say it demonstrates a commitment to excellence. In this effort to single out specific events as examples, we tend to miss the commitment to excellence that I see in the efforts of my co-workers every single day. They go the extra mile every day to make sure they provide the best care possible to their patients and in making their lives just a little better every day. That is true commitment to excellence.

What is your favorite summer activity?
I enjoy motorcycling. I have been a rider for many decades touring almost all of the western states and three provinces of Canada.

List three things people may not know about you.

• Nursing is a second career for me. I retired as an operator/maintenance man in hydroelectric power plants in Montana. Then I went to school for my third degree in nursing. I know you are thinking – “Wow, what a strange transition!” The fact is, my interest in medicine began while working at hydro dams. Many of these dams are in very remote locations and require some rather strange and dangerous job activities. I recall one particular incident in which I was required to climb out of a helicopter as it hovered alongside a 1,000-foot cliff. I had to climb from the cabin onto the landing skid then to the side of the ice-covered cliff. I clung there with no fall protection while the chopper backed away, all the while wondering what a Hollywood stuntman would be paid. There were many incidents in which workers, as well as some hikers and backpackers, were injured. As it was a good two hours to the nearest health care facility, I became an EMT. I did that for many years in my spare time.
• Before working in the utility industry, I was a cop in a ski resort town in Montana. My career plan at that time was to follow in my father’s footsteps and be a policeman. To that end, I applied for the police force in Billings, the largest city in the state. It was during the lengthy hiring process that I was offered a job working in hydro power. The offer came about because of my electronics training in the U.S. Navy. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
• I also used to sing. I sang in college and in the symphony. For one Christmas concert, I auditioned and won the tenor solo in the “Magnificat” by Alan Hovhaness.