UNMC Recognized for Success in Graduating Family Physicians
The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Medicine has
received the Silver Percentage Award from the American Academy of Family
Practice for its success in making family practice a top career choice
for graduating medical students.
The Family Practice Percentage Awards honor medical schools for their
efforts in educating and motivating students to choose careers as family
physicians. The annual awards, initiated in 1992, recognize medical schools
with the highest three-year average of graduates entering family practice
residency training programs. This year’s Silver Percentage Award recognizes
universities with a three-year average (1997 to 1999) between 25 and 29.9
percent.
With 25 percent of its graduates entering family practice residency
programs, UNMC was among 10 Silver Percentage Award recipients. Others
included the University of Kansas, University of Iowa and Texas Tech University.
This is the fourth consecutive year UNMC’s College of Medicine has
received a Family Practice Percentage Award and the second consecutive
year for receiving the Silver Award. Earlier, it received two Bronze Awards,
which recognize medical schools that graduate between 20 and 24.9 percent
of their students into a family practice residency program.
“The award is congruent with our mission to graduate family practice
physicians for the state of Nebraska,” said Paul Paulman, M.D., professor
and predoctoral director in UNMC’s department of family medicine. “If we
have larger numbers entering the field, it’s likely some will begin practices
in Nebraska, where there is a mild shortage.”
In addition to this year’s Silver Percentage Awards, the AAFP also presented
seven Gold and 20 Bronze Percentage Awards.
The AAFP, founded in 1947, represents more than 89,400 family physicians,
family practice residents and medical students nationwide.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment, solid organ transplantation and arthritis.
During the past year, nearly $31 million in research grants and contracts
were awarded to UNMC scientists, and UNMCs funding from the National Institutes
of Health increased by 28 percent, going from $16.2 million to $20.7 million.
UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals
practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.