We welcome autumn and its more moderate temperatures; traditional activities like visiting pumpkin patches and picking apples; and Husker volleyball and football. Importantly for the department, many are busy teaching medical students and I encourage you to read the update from Dr. David O’Dell regarding the new and continuing roles for various faculty through the three phases of med student education.
It has been wonderful welcoming new residents to our residency program. You can read about the interns’ annual retreat and find out more about wellness resources for our trainees. We have raised over $99,000 for the Jarrod Dye Memorial Resident Well-Being Fund that our resident wellness committee will have to use for the next 10 years to provide additional activities. Many thanks to the individuals and divisions who contributed to the fund. Also see the picture of the wonderful bench that Dr. Jake Riggle made to help remember Jarrod and check it out for yourself the next time you are in front of the DRC.
Congratulations to Drs. Mark Rupp, Micah Beachy and Chad Vokoun who were recently elected to the roles of President, Secretary-Treasurer and Member-at-Large, respectively, of the Medical Executive Committee of Nebraska Medicine. We appreciate their willingness to serve on this important local committee. Many thanks as well to the numerous faculty serving on standing committees of the UNMC College of Medicine which you will also find listed in this newsletter.
I have been to two University of Nebraska foundation events in the past several days that remind me of how blessed UNMC and the department are to have those who contribute generously to our work. One event celebrated all the UNMC endowed chairs, professorships and fellowships and, as a department, we are fortunate to have several of these. The second event honored Dr. Michael Sorrell, a former Internal Medicine Chair, on the ten-year anniversary of the health sciences education building named in his honor (read more on this here) along with members of the Edward A. Holyoke, M.D., Ph.D., Society who generously contributed to the funding of that building (and more!). We are grateful to current members of the department who have been a part of this philanthropic effort (Drs. Jim Armitage, Ward Chambers, Gerald Moore, Michael Sorrell, Susanna Von Essen and Robert Wigton).
You will see that several of our faculty have been honored with awards or gained national recognition. We congratulate all of them on these excellent achievements. You will also see new faculty that we are excited to have join us. Be sure and take time to introduce yourselves to them.
I hope to see many of the faculty on October 11 at noon for our annual departmental faculty meeting that will provide overviews and updates of activity in the department. There will also be an annual meeting for department staff on October 25 at noon.
Remember to send items you would like to see in the newsletter to Maria Daniels or to me.
Enjoy the fall! Thanks for all each of you does to help the department perform its work!
From the Chair
