What would we do without our resident and subspecialty fellow physicians?
Without a doubt, residents and subspecialty fellows are the backbone of the academic health care system. I recently experienced that personally, as I just completed two weeks of attending on the inpatient general infectious diseases consult service at Nebraska Medicine.
I had the benefit of working directly with a number of outstanding internal medicine residents and infectious disease fellows, as well as encountering many others in the course of consulting on the many patients seen over that two-week period.
It is always a great experience for me to be able to get back to patient care and clinical education activities. Working with our talented and committed residents and fellows is always a pleasure. However, it also serves as a reminder that they do so much and yet do not always receive the recognition they deserve.
I was also very pleased to see the campus come together during February to recognize our residents and fellows through a variety of events. House Officer Appreciation Day was held on Feb. 28 to recognize all the hard work house officers do at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine. Residents received a free breakfast in Private Dining Room C between 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and free coffee was served to residents throughout the day until 4:30 p.m.
One of the special touches involved some of our medical students who are members of the UNMC Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. These students took the time to write personalized thank you messages to each of our more than 500 residents. Residents and fellows often serve a major teaching role in the education of our medical students, something which the students have demonstrated they appreciate.
Another heartfelt effort came from Dr. Kelly Cawcutt in the division of infectious diseases, department of internal medicine. She wrote a thank you poem to the residents that did a wonderful job of detailing some of the trials and tribulations – and rewards – that come with a residency.
The poem acknowledged the long hours residents put in; how sometimes residency can be overwhelmed with all the daily pressures that come with the job – such as breaking bad news to patients, covering for a sick colleague or trying to get research done on nights and weekends.
You can read the entire poem by clicking here. Suffice to say, it does an excellent job of capturing the life of a resident. I encourage you to take a minute and read it.
The appreciation events were timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the death by suicide of Dr. Jarrod Dye, a third-year internal medicine resident.
A tragic event like this can have profound effects on an organization. I am proud and grateful for how the campus has responded and the desire to keep Dr. Dye’s memory alive. An increased emphasis has been placed on wellness for learners, faculty and staff, and several events, including one this month, have been devoted to dealing with and avoiding burnout and stress.
We have rescheduled the film "Do No Harm," which focuses on this topic. It will now air at 6 p.m. on April 23 in the Storz Pavilion with dinner being served starting at 5:30 p.m. If you'd like to attend, please RSVP here.
Personally, I want to extend my thanks to Dr. Chandra Are, who has served as UNMC’s designated institutional official (DIO) and associate dean for graduate medical education for the past two years. As DIO, Dr. Are oversees all of UNMC's 56 residency and fellowship programs. It’s a big job that Dr. Are has carried out in an exemplary fashion, as he has made our residents his No. 1 priority.
For the past couple years, he has featured a profile on a resident and a resident program director in InterCOM each month. It is a wonderful way to salute these individuals and thank them for all their hard work and dedication. Is there any better feeling than being thanked and knowing that you are appreciated?
I want to share some common sense reminders of things we can do to help take care of ourselves and others during times of stress – get enough sleep; eat well; take time to reflect; hug your loved ones; and check in with one another – especially if you sense that someone is having problems.
Finally, I want to salute two of our longtime faculty members – Dr. Jim O’Dell and Dr. Paul Paulman – on being honored as Educator Laureates this year. These are two of our true stars of education, and I was very pleased to see them recognized for all they’ve done to make the educational experience of our students so exceptional.
It has been a long winter, but – keep the faith – spring is not too far away. As always, I want to extend my deepest gratitude for all that each of you do on behalf of the College of Medicine.