Dr. Cloonan to co-chair international conference
UNMC’s Madeline Cloonan, MD, has been named a resident co-chair for the International Conference on Residency Education, to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Quebec City, Canada. Dr. Cloonan, a research resident in the division of general surgery, will be one of five residents to co-chair the event, the world’s largest conference devoted exclusively to advancing residency education.
Each year, ICRE offers a diverse and inspiring program designed to enhance the professional development of those involved in medical education and/or health care. As a co-chair, Dr. Cloonan’s role will be to help establish areas of focus within the conference’s theme of growth, passion and innovation.
Dr. Cloonan, who not only is the first UNMC resident selected to co-chair the conference but only the second resident from the United States, applied at the urging of her mentors.
“We couldn’t be prouder of Dr. Cloonan as she represents UNMC on an international stage,” said Cory Rolfsen, MD, a professor of general internal medicine and director of Health Educators and Academic Leaders (HEAL) program, of which Dr. Cloonan is a member.
Dr. Cloonan, a UNMC medical student alumna and research resident who is currently in the PhD portion of her program, said she was proud to represent UNMC on a national stage.
“I went to medical school here, and I’m doing residency here,” she said. “UNMC has done so much for me, and my mentors have completely shaped my path. It is important to me to represent UNMC well. UNMC does many things in residency education well, and I’m excited to perhaps help people recognize the UNMC name because of my involvement in this role.”
-John Keenan, UNMC strategic communications
Two nursing faculty complete national leadership program
Two UNMC College of Nursing faculty members recently became UNMC’s first nursing faculty to complete a national program for high potential nurse leaders.
Rebecca Swanson, DNP, clinical assistant professor at the Omaha division, and Jill Reed, PhD, associate professor at the Kearney division, finished the NurseTRUST Emerging Leaders Fellowship program late last year. The eight-month course focuses on six leadership competencies: self-awareness, learning agility, communication, political savvy, influencing outcomes and motivating others.
The program required each participant to complete a project relating to its competencies. Dr. Swanson worked with Nebraska Medicine on the Advanced Practice Provider (APP) student placement processes. The project’s goals, she said, were to formalize the APP preceptor recruitment process, update and disseminate the APP student placement process, employ a learner management system and form an APP student placement team.
Dr. Reed’s project focused on establishing best practices for the clinical evaluation of nurse practitioner students. Her work included establishing faculty to do site visits, conducting a survey of faculty students and preceptors to provide feedback and input on current process and reviewing the current literature, and identifying national organizations that could assist in naming best practices to evaluate NP students.
While Drs. Reed and Swanson were the first from UNMC to complete the program, three more College of Nursing faculty have been selected for the 2025 cohort – Douglas Haas, DNP, clinical assistant professor at the Kearney division; Melissa Florell, PhD, interim assistant dean at the Lincoln division; and Haley Hays, DNP, interim assistant dean at the West Nebraska division in Scottsbluff.
-Greg Forbes, UNMC College of Nursing
Dr. Varilek earns emerging leader award
Brandon Varilek, PhD, is among the 2025 Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation’s (HPNF) Emerging Leaders Award recipients.
The honor, which HPNF established in 2021, celebrates and encourages early career hospice and palliative nurses to continue their work in hospice-related care research or practice. Every three years, HPNF bestows the award to 30 individuals under the age of 40 or those who have less than five years’ experience.
An assistant professor at the UNMC College of Nursing-Omaha division, Dr. Varilek specializes in research in hospice and palliative care in minority populations in Nebraska, South Dakota and the Upper Great Plains Area.
“Receiving this honor is a true privilege and confirms that the work I am doing is valuable not only to the populations I work with, but to the broader hospice and palliative care community,” he said.
Dr. Varilek and his fellow recipients were honored in February at the Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care in Denver. Dr. Varilek said the recognition encourages him to continue his focus on increasing access to communities in need.
“My goal is to broaden access to palliative and hospice care for underserved rural communities by developing innovative mechanisms to incorporate palliative care into normal care settings without overburdening our current palliative care teams,” he said. “I am especially interested in these approaches for individuals with chronic and end-stage kidney diseases, and with American Indian persons living in Nebraska and the Upper Great Plains.”
-Greg Forbes, UNMC College of Nursing