COM residency program director of the month

Name: Shane Havens, MD
 
Medical school attended:
Creighton University School of Medicine, 2005-2009
 
Location of your residency/fellowship training:
UNMC – Ophthalmology residency, 2009-2013
Duke University – Clinical glaucoma and advanced anterior segment surgery, 2013-2014
 
What residency/fellowship program at UNMC are you serving as program director for:
Residency program director for UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences since 2016
 
Number of trainees:
7 residents, 2 clinical fellows
 
How long have you been the program director:
2.5 years
 
What made you chose to become the program director:
The opportunity to advance and improve the didactic and ophthalmic surgical curriculum at the same program where I trained was unique and attractive to me. I also was interested in working more closely with the great, energetic, and inquisitive resident surgeons that enter the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences each year. It has been important to me to increase resident involvement in directing educational program improvements and advancing the quality of eye care at UNMC. 
 
What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future:
Continued decreases in research and graduate medical education funding create a challenge to providing the human and financial resources required to facilitate resident and academic faculty research and may play a role in academic physician faculty retainment.
 
What are the strengths of your training program:
The small dedicated core faculty at the Truhlsen Eye Institute make for a strong family of mentors for the residents as they grow as clinicians and surgeons. The department’s collaboration with the Omaha Veterans Affairs Medical Center provides a broad and diverse clinical experience and a graduated increase in responsibility and autonomy in patient care and surgical involvement. The educational opportunity at the VA is invaluable, and it has proven instrumental in also helping provide the best care possible for our area’s veterans. Resident graduates from our program are sought after for top private practice and competitive fellowship positions across the country.
 
List some accomplishments that you are proud of:

The growth and accomplishments of our graduates! We have resident and fellow graduates that have gone on to complete competitive clinical fellowships and take leadership roles at the nation’s top academic centers, specialty institutions, and in private practice groups.
 
To cite a few, Dr. Anna Stagner (2014 graduate) completed two years of ophthalmic pathology fellowship at Harvard’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a full pathology residency and is being considered to lead the ophthalmic pathology service at the same institution.
 
Dr. Robert Joel Welch (2016 graduate) completed an ophthalmic oncology fellowship at the famous Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and is currently completing a surgical vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Welch is on the path to a distinguished clinical career as an ophthalmic oncologist and educator.
 
Dr. Keegan Harkins (2017 graduate) will complete a vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Wake Forest University this summer and then return to Scottsbluff and expand the ophthalmic services and access to high-quality ophthalmic surgical care in Western Nebraska.
 
Dr. Jonathan Crews (2016), Patty Terp and Christy Benson (2015), Mike Stuntz and Andrew Baldwin (2018) have emerged as regional leaders in private practice in St. Louis, Des Moines,  Fremont, Omaha, and Columbus, respectively. They continue as active contributing alumni of the residency program.
 
Glaucoma fellowship graduates: Dr. Reza Razeghinejad (2017) became faculty at the Wills Eye Hospital, and Dr. Gillian Treadwell (2018) joined the faculty at Wake Forest Eye in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
I am most proud of the continued successes and contributions to the advancement of ophthalmology that come from graduates from our residency program. In my opinion, the legacy of their education at TEI lies in their future accomplishments, which we all can be proud of. 

Tell us three things about you that others may not know:

• I hold a first-degree black belt in Kung fu.
• I led the Creighton Bluejays men’s soccer team in yellow (warning) cards during my collegiate soccer career.
• I have seen the great Willie Nelson in concert more than 15 times.