Name: A.J Blazek, MD
Medical school you attended/year you graduated: UNMC, graduated in 2019.
Residency at UNMC: Urologic surgery
Program director: Christopher Deibert, MD
How long is your training program and how long have you been at UNMC?
Five-year training program. I have been at UNMC since 2015 – almost nine years!
What do you like the most about your training program?
The best aspect of urology is the diversity of patients, pathology and surgeries that we see and do. Surgeries range from small clinic procedures and quick endoscopic cases to complex robotic surgeries and open cases. We see patients of all ages and impact these patients at very critical portions in their life. From helping a family achieve fertility or instantly relieving excruciating kidney stone pain all the way to curing prostate and kidney cancer in one surgery, the ways we can impact patients’ lives are countless.
What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future?
Graduate medical education faces the daunting task of continuously providing more and more medical providers for our ever-expanding U.S. population. The need for providers in our communities has never been higher and ensuring providers are trained in an efficient and thorough manner has never been more important or difficult.
List some accomplishments that you are proud of:
- Outstanding male student leader at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- AOA
- State tennis champion in high school
- My two beautiful children!
Tell us three things about you that others may not know:
- I own five chickens here in Omaha. Yes, the eggs are better!
- I once ran a sub-six minute mile after eating a whole Qdoba burrito. That will never happen again.
- I love to renovate my house/do projects room by room.