Wow…spring is quickly passing and soon the official start of summer will happen along with the start of the new academic year on July 1st! I hope you will take a couple of minutes to look through the newsletter because there are so many wonderful accomplishments to see. I want to give a special welcome to our new division chief of Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep Medicine Dr. Ruxana Sadikot who will start with us June 1st. She is eager to join us and finally found a new home in our city (ask her about those adventures!). As Dr. Sisson passes the division chief leadership torch to Dr. Sadikot, we say a big "thank you" to all the ways he has helped the division grow. We will celebrate Dr. Sisson’s contributions later this fall before his retirement at the end of 2021.
Spring brings graduations and a time for recognizing excellence in education. Both Dr. Sara Bares and Dr. Nate Anderson were chosen for their medical student education work with Golden Apple and Hirschman Prize, respectfully. You will find a listing of our department Top Teachers for residents/students as well as top teachers for fellowship programs. Also, congratulations to RemyGrace Sass for being recognized with the LeeRoy Meyer Outstanding Internal Medicine student award at the medical student hooding. Our former faculty member, Dr. Phil Smith was recognized with the J.G. Elliott Award at the UNMC commencement for his vision in helping the medical center enter the world of biopreparedness.
There are new research grants recognized in the newsletter as well as recognizing the winners of our department resident and fellow research poster session held recently in the virtual format. Thanks to all who participated, and we look forward to returning to an in-person venue next spring.
We will celebrate our amazing graduating residents later in June (highlights will be in the next newsletter). Those new residents who will join us in July can be found in the links in the newsletter with their pictures (maybe you want to download those and save them).
There are valuable resources in Faculty Education, Faculty Development, and DEI sections of the newsletter so don’t forget to check those out!
We are all grateful that more and more people are getting their COVID vaccines in the community. While guidelines in the community are changing regarding to precautions, remember we still need to wear our masks in all public places and clinical areas of the medical center. Travel is becoming more possible. For work-related travel, it must be approved in the Chair’s office with a description of why the travel is mission critical and a brief description of pandemic guidelines in association with the meeting/course, etc.
For the past year and a half, both Nebraska Medicine and the College of Medicine have had conversations about important aspects of how we create the best culture possible in our workspace. There will be a link that reminds you of those culture topics and a sheet to reflect on your thoughts about this work. Please take a look at these. As we move forward in the new academic and fiscal year, our culture work will focus on how these culture principles help us achieve each of our ITEACH values (innovation, teamwork, excellence, accountability, courage, and healing).
The past now nearly year and a half have been challenging for everyone with the pandemic and all the stresses it has brought. While the pandemic situation is improving in the US, we know many parts of the world are still in dire straits and we are mindful of the stress that places on our faculty, trainees, and staff with family and friends in those regions. We know the pandemic is not over until it is over everywhere in the world. I encourage you to take advantage of wellness resources available on campus and to find some time for rejuvenation over the upcoming summer months. You may recall hearing about a pilot wellness project known as WHOLE group (Wellness: How One Lives Effectively) that Dr. Wengel talked about at one of our department meetings earlier this spring. The group would meet once a week for 4 weeks for about 90 minutes. The format for the group is based on work done at Harvard and adapted for use here by Dr. Wengel and colleagues. If you are interested in the group, let us (email Jenny Kreikemeier jennifer.kreikemeier@unmc.edu) know. This is available to anyone (faculty, trainee, staff) in the department.
I am grateful for all each of you do for our clinical, education, research, and service missions. Enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend!
Internal Medicine Message From the Chair
