The UNMC Office of Graduate Medical Education celebrated House Officer Appreciation Week Feb. 19-23 with activities and efforts designed to showcase the medical center’s appreciation of its house officers’ commitment to serious medicine and extraordinary care.
In a message sent to house officers and signed by UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, Nebraska Medicine CEO James Linder, MD, UNMC College of Medicine Dean Bradley Britigan, MD, and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education Chandra Are, MD, the house officers were told:
“You have attained the rare privilege of becoming a physician through your sheer grit and by embodying the high ideals of our noble profession.
“You are the bright future of our profession and represent some of the best we have to offer to our society.
“Your hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed.”
Dr. Are added:
“House officers continue to be a vital cog in the wheel of the extraordinary care that we provide to our patients. As a frontline and mission-critical workforce, they help to run our clinical enterprise, and we cannot thank them enough for that.”
The GME office provided a series of activities for the house officers, including:
- A trivia wellness contest held at the Wigton Heritage Center on Feb. 22.
- Amenities such as breakfast, coffee, donuts and cupcakes throughout the week.
- Elevate strength and cycling classes for house offices.
- One month of free classes at Power Life for each house officer.
In addition, various departments and divisions celebrated their fellows and residents in a variety of ways. Some of the efforts included:
- Personalized scrub caps from Etsy (each house officer chose their own style, color and embroidery preferences);
- Large individual bags of popcorn from Colby Ridge;
- Snacks for lounges;
- Thank you cards signed by educational teams;
- Bundt cakes; and
- Cookie trays.
“Our residents and fellows are at the heart of our mission, and we couldn’t accomplish what we do without them,” said Erin Snow, director of graduate medical education. “It is a privilege and a pleasure to help celebrate their work.”