Four clinical instructors have been selected as the University of Nebraska
Medical Centers Outstanding Teachers for 2000. They will be honored Tuesday,
April 4 during the Annual Faculty Meeting in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.
The four teachers are James Landmark, M.D., assistant professor in the
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, and associate director of the
Blood Transfusion and Transplant Laboratories; Paul Larsen, M.D., professor
and joint division chief of Pediatric Neurology for UNMC, Creighton University
and Childrens Hospital; James ODell, M.D., professor, vice chair of the
Department of Internal Medicine and section chief of Rheumatology; and
Pat Trausch, instructor at the UNMC College of Nursing, Kearney Division.
James Landmark, M.D.
After receiving his medical degree in 1971 from the University of Minnesota
Medical School in Minneapolis, Dr. Landmark did a year of medicine internship
and then was a resident at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester,
Minn. He served one year in internal medicine and another three years in
clinical pathology, where the major emphasis was in the blood bank laboratory.
In 1976, Dr. Landmark moved to Omaha to become the medical director
of the American Red Cross Blood Services, Midwest Region. During his 12
years in that position, he was involved in changing cancer therapy. He
helped develop the new peripheral blood stem cell transplant program at
UNMC in 1981 with Anne Kessinger, M.D., professor and associate director
for Clinical Research of the Department of Oncology/Hematology, and James
Armitage, M.D., professor and former chairman of Internal Medicine, who
will take office as dean of the College of Medicine April 1.
In 1989, Dr. Landmark joined UNMCs faculty to teach transfusion medicine
and began a new phase of his career.
His teaching skills have been recognized with the awarding of
the Certificate of Appreciation for Excellence in Teaching in 1998 by the
Alvin M. Earle Outstanding Health Science Award Committee, certificates
of Merit for Excellence in Teaching and in Small Group Education in 1996,
1992 and 1991 by the American Student Medical Association, and a Certificate
of Special Professional Achievement in 1991 by UNMCs College of Medicine.
Paul Larsen, M.D.
Paul Larsen, M.D., has been teaching and practicing pediatric neurology
for 17 years.
As professor and joint division chief of pediatric neurology for UNMC,
Creighton University and Childrens Hospital, Dr. Larsen tries to relate
the importance of that philosophy to his medical students. Dr. Larsen
believes that neurology is one of the last great frontiers in medicine.
Hes knows that a students sense of adventure to learn how the brain works
can be an incredible motivator in their studies.
Earning his medical degree from the University of Utah in 1978, Dr.
Larsen then became a resident at the University of Arizona for two years
and returned to Utah where he was a fellow in neurology and pediatric neurology
until 1983. His first faculty position in pediatric neurology was
at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and at
the Texas A&M University College of Medicine/Scott and White Clinic
in Temple, Texas.
In 1990, Dr. Larsen was recruited to his current position with his primary
appointment at Creighton. He changed his primary appointment to UNMC two
years ago when he became professor of pediatrics and neurology.
He was named to Best Doctors in America: Central Region in 1998 and
was awarded the Golden Apple Award, Excellence in Teaching, by the class
of 2000 at Creighton University School of Medicine in 1997. That same year,
Dr. Larsen was presented the Dedicated Teacher Award at Creighton. He also
received the Outstanding Pediatric Faculty Award for 1992 and 1994 from
the Joint Creighton-UNMC Pediatric Residency Program.
James ODell, M.D.
A world-renowned rheumatologist, Dr. ODell, said that although he earned
his medical degree from UNMC in 1977, he has never stopped being a student.
In 1998, he was given the Family Practice Clinical Teacher of the Year
Award by the family practice residents. He also has been included on the
internal medicine Top Teachers Award list every year from 1991 to 1999.
In 1990, he was presented the highly coveted Sir William Osler Teaching
Award from the internal medicine residents. Sir Osler was a revered teacher
and clinician from the 1890s and is considered the father of internal medicine.
As chief of rheumatology, Dr. ODell serves another major role as director
of rheumatology education for internal medicine and family practice residents
and junior and senior medical students. He created a curriculum that includes
pre- and post-tests, patient cases and an eight-hour lecture that he personally
delivers every month.
He also is the attending physician on general medicine two months a
year at the Veterans Administration Hospital, where he conducts morning
teaching rounds two days a week.
Pat Trausch
Trausch became a registered nurse in 1971 at St. Joseph Hospital School
of Nursing in Omaha. She earned her bachelors degree in 1981 from the
University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
She returned to Omaha to work at Immanuel Medical Center where she began
teaching critical care education. She earned her masters degree in 1989
from the University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver.
That same year she found her way to Kearney, where she primarily has
been teaching senior nursing students about acute care.
She combines classroom theory with practical application in patient
care at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Three years ago, Trausch initiated a clinical teaching tool pathophysiology
drawing that has become popular among the students. She asks students
to draw what the patients organs look like in the disease state, list
symptoms to assess for and describe the action of the medications being
administered to treat the pathology.
In addition to teaching, Trausch is one of the advisors for the local
Student Nurses Association, a role she has served in for nine years.