Name: Daniel W. Johnson, M.D.
Medical school attended: University of Michigan Medical School
Location of your residency/fellowship training:
- Anesthesiology residency: Massachusetts General Hospital
- Critical care fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital
What residency/fellowship program at UNMC are you serving as program director for:
Critical care fellowship in the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology
Number of trainees: Four per year
How long have you been the program director: Six years
What made you chose to become the program director:
The United States has a shortage of intensivists, as does the state of Nebraska. When my chair, Dr. Steve Lisco, provided me with the resources necessary to start a critical care fellowship in the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology, I was very excited to help my home state increase our number of fellowship-trained critical care doctors.
What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future:
Our nation must recognize that salaries, benefits and educational resources for residents and fellows are some of the most important investments we can make in the well-being of the public. Over the past two decades, academic medical centers like UNMC have had to work harder and harder to ensure that our house officers receive the resources they need. I am thankful that Nebraska Medicine considers resident and fellow education a top priority. I hope that in the future, all GME programs in the United States can enjoy the support that UNMC GME does from our clinical partner. I am confident that when the COVID-19 pandemic is in our rear-view mirror, everyone in the United States will recognize that residents and fellows were a huge reason why our country continued to thrive. I am very grateful to every resident and fellow who is helping to fight COVID-19.
What are the strengths of your training program:
- The fellows are outstanding physicians. Each one of my fellows is smart, kind, hard-working, selfless, generous, curious and humble. Some of my fellows are from Nebraska, and some are not. But clearly, they all represent the values of the state of Nebraska.
- The faculty are willing to do whatever it takes to optimize the educational experience of the fellows.
- Mary Bernhagen is our fellowship coordinator, and she is one of the best human beings on earth. She makes sure that our fellows are on track, and she makes my job much easier. In my day-to-day life, I try to be more like Mary — everyone should!
- Dr. Shaun Thompson is the associate fellowship director, and he has done a lot to improve the program. He has personally revamped the entire didactic program, and he has been an ever-increasing resource to the fellows for each of the last few years.
- The level of friendly collaboration between critical care groups in the UNMC Departments of Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine and Surgery is unmatched. If a future intensivist wants to receive a well-rounded education in critical care from these three key perspectives, UNMC provides a fantastic opportunity.
- Our fellows receive state-of-the-art education in ultrasonography/echocardiography, and in extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This is possible because of tremendous collaboration with our colleagues in cardiac anesthesiology, cardiology, cardiac surgery, perfusion, radiology, nursing, respiratory therapy and many more areas.
List some accomplishments that you are proud of:
Some of the best days of my entire career happen when I see a graduate of our critical care fellowship out in practice, doing amazing work. I am proud of every single doctor who has completed our fellowship. Several have joined the faculty at UNMC, and several are doing wonderful things across the country. I consider each one of them a member of the UNMC Anesthesiology family, and they make me very proud.
Tell us three things about you that others may not know:
- I was very fortunate to marry my “high school sweetheart.”
- My happy place is catching fish off of a dock in Okoboji.
- My favorite season is winter, and I loved the April 16, 2020, snow shower.