Two UNMC College of Medicine faculty members have been named to new roles at the Nebraska Medical Association.
Jordan Warchol, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Emergency Medicine, and Kaitlyn Brittan, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Division of Rheumatology, both have been involved in the NMA since they were UNMC medical students.
As of July, Dr. Warchol is the chair of the association’s legislative and advocacy committee and chair of its delegates to the American Medical Association, having been a delegate to the AMA for five years. Dr. Brittan is the UNMC College of Medicine dean’s representative to the NMA board.
Dr. Warchol, who holds a Master of Public Health degree and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Medicine, said being a member of the NMA was a way to stay up to date on the regulatory activities of the legislature and various regulatory agencies.
“It’s our professional responsibility to make sure our patients are cared for,” she said. “The best way to advocate for our patients on a greater scale is through organizations like the NMA.”
Dr. Brittan, who, like Dr. Warchol, will be part of the NMA’s board, called the organization the “voice of physicians of Nebraska in terms of health policy.
“Obviously UNMC is incredibly committed to our patient care, so having a representative on the board of the Nebraska Medical Association helps ensure that the issues we see or priorities we have are being voiced to the whole community,” she said.
Drs. Walchol and Brittan both urged other UNMC and Nebraska Medicine medical students, faculty and physicians to consider joining the NMA.
“It’s important for physicians and trainees to be members of medical organizations,” Dr. Warchol said. “As a student, it was an investment in my career, something I knew I could be involved in longitudinally throughout my career.”
The NMA is incredibly important, Dr. Brittan agreed.
“Sometimes people don’t recognize, especially when they’re still in training, the importance of having a seat at the table on policies that are going to impact how you care for patients,” she said. “This is a great avenue to impact change that not only benefits patients but benefits your ability to care for them.”
“UNMC is obviously a powerhouse in the state,” Dr. Brittan said. “We have a large voice, but the NMA amplifies it for us.”