Name: Howard Needelman, MD
Medical school attended: Rush Medical College, Chicago
Location of your residency/fellowship training:
- Pediatrics, University of Michigan
- Neonatal/perinatal medicine, University of Cincinnati
- Developmental/behavioral pediatrics, UNMC
What /fellowship program at UNMC are you serving as program director for?
Developmental/behavioral pediatrics
Number of trainees: We have three spots, one for each of the three years of fellowship, and, as a relatively new program, have just graduated our first fellow.
How long have you been the program director: Since its inception. We began work on establishing the program about five years ago.
What made you choose to become the program director?
After discussions with numerous colleagues at UNMC and other institutions, I realized the need to develop a strong training program in DBPeds here at UNMC. Nationwide and, I feel, particularly in our region, we need more physicians trained in this important subspecialty considering the number of children with challenges. I thank our section director Cynthia Ellis, MD, and the Munroe-Meyer Institute's Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD, for their support in this endeavor.
What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future? We are still learning how to combine in person and virtual teaching, a challenge accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have to address the disparity we see in training physicians for underserved areas, making it attractive to young trainees. Newly trained physicians must learn how to work collaboratively with other health care providers, especially nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
What are the strengths of your training program? Our program utilizes the expertise present at both UNMC, especially the Munroe-Meyer Institute, and Children's Hospital & Medical Center. We are a small program and can give a great deal of personal attention to our trainees.
List some accomplishments that you are proud of:
- The establishment of our fellowship and the graduation of our first trainee.
- Also, I helped establish and still help coordinate the state's NICU follow-up program, which is a model for other states.
- (Not professional, but having three wonderful kids and eight terrific grandkids.)
Tell us three things about you that others may not know:
- My wife and I are approaching our 50th anniversary (she was a child bride!)
- We belong to two book clubs, and I love to read.
- I am a huge supporter of Omaha's TriFaith Initiative.