Every breath on Earth begins the same way: with birth.
And every year since graduating from UNMC’s medical school three decades ago, Don Gibbens, M.D., a Lincoln OB-GYN, has seen about 240 births – and about that many first breaths.
Sometimes he’s seen death.
“When it comes to being a human being, there are very few more joyous times in a couple’s life than having a baby,” he says. “On the other side of the coin, if there’s a problem with the baby, it also can be a tumultuous time.
“It’s a specialty that gives you a perspective on life that a lot of other people don’t have.”
It’s given him a great life, he said one morning at a coffeehouse called The Mill, in the College Hill area of Lincoln. He’s here to be interviewed for a story about a gift he’s given to benefit UNMC’s OB-GYN Department.
“I was very fortunate to have gotten admitted to the Class of 1985,” Don said. “They took a chance on me, and I can never repay what they did for me. This is an attempt to try to say thank you for trusting in this big dumb football player.” (Don played linebacker at Lincoln Southeast and then at Nebraska Wesleyan.)
He smiled.
“I still am worried that someday I’m going to get a note from the University of Nebraska: Dr. Gibbens, we made a mistake and we’re going to take the medical degree back .”
This interview, he warned, may be cut short if his cell phone tells him that yet another baby is on its way. That’s the life of a physician, he said. A lot of life interruptions. That’s why he tried to steer his three kids away from a career in medicine.
But one didn’t listen – his oldest child, Jake.
Like his dad, Jake Gibbens also went to medical school at UNMC. He finished his OB residency at UNMC last year and is now in his second year of a maternal-fetal medicine fellowship in Jackson, Miss.
Don was still a medical student when his wife, Valerie, gave birth to Jake.
Don will never forget that day.
He’ll never forget his first-born’s first breath.
He’ll never forget gross anatomy class that first year at UNMC and how it connected him and the other med students to life and death in a hands-on way.
He’ll never forget his professors.
Drs. Jake M’11 and Don Gibbens M’85
One of them was Carl V. Smith, M.D. Even though Dr. Smith was very young back then, Don said, he commanded the students’ respect. He always demanded that they base their medical decisions on science.
“He made you be very thoughtful about how you managed your decisions,” he said.
He smiled again.
“I hear his voice almost every day.”
Dr. Smith now directs UNMC’s OB-GYN program, and the two are friends. Don said he wanted his fund to support OB-GYN residents partly because of his respect for Dr. Smith.
“He’s now educated two generations of Gibbens.”
He’ll never forget how hard life was when he was a resident. His fund has helped pay for iPads that let the residents access information quickly as they make their rounds.
He’s also helping to pay for a residents’ lounge at UNMC.
“It makes me feel good,” he says. “Anything I could do to make a resident’s life a little better – that’s why I established the fund.
“All I do is give $1,000 a month. I’ve committed $100,000, and it really hasn’t been a big deal. I haven’t had to scrimp in order to do it – it’s like just another car payment I make on a monthly basis. I think most physicians would be able to do something like this too.”
He hopes his story inspires other alumni to remember UNMC.
And the great life it gave them, too.
Read about the College of Medicine Alumni Engagement Council’s decision to recognize all of the college’s former residents and fellows as UNMC alumni on page 23 through a “New Era of Alumni Engagement.”
Call the University of Nebraska Foundation at 800-432-3216 and learn more about supporting UNMC.