Dave O’Dell, M.D. to receive two major national awards

The American College of Physicians has elected UNMC’s Dave O’Dell, M.D., professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of General Medicine, as a recipient of its highest awards — the Mastership and the Dr. Jane F. Desforges Distinguished Teaching Award.

He will receive both awards at the ACP’s 2020 meeting next April in Los Angeles.

The Mastership, the organization’s highest award, recognizes an outstanding and extraordinary career. It is bestowed for “integrity, positions of honor, eminence in practice or in medical research, or other attainments in science or in the art of medicine.” Honorees must be distinguished by the excellence and significance of his or her contributions to the field of medicine.

The Dr. Jane F. Desforges Distinguished Teaching Award is bestowed for the ennobling qualities of a great teacher as judged by the acclaim and accomplishments of former students who have been inspired and have achieved positions of leadership in the field of medical education, primarily as teachers.

Dr. O’Dell, professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, said he was extremely surprised and humbled when he heard he’d received the award.

“Medical education is a long process and truly a team endeavor,” Dr. O’Dell said. “I have the privilege of getting to work with students in the clinical years after our foundational science faculty have given the students a solid base of medical knowledge.

“I was blessed to be Dr. LeeRoy Meyer’s student, resident, and colleague and greatly benefited from his mentoring. I also have served under many tremendous physicians who allowed me to indulge my passion for medical education. UNMC has always had a culture that values medical education and I am delighted to accept this award as a representative of that culture and its commitment to our students,” he said.

Tom Tape, M.D., professor and chief of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine, said Dr. O’Dell’s teaching encompasses a broad scope including the classroom, small group settings, the clinic exam room, and the inpatient bedside.

“Patients serve as the focal point for his teaching,” Dr. Tape said. “Combine these attributes with an enormous investment of face-to-face teaching and mentoring time and one can begin to understand why Dr. O’Dell is widely considered one of the truly legendary teachers.

“He has mentored countless students and residents over his 30-year faculty career. Many have become outstanding clinician-educators in their own right; many others have become better practitioners of medicine because of the approach to clinical reasoning that Dave developed and taught,” he said.