March has arrived and with it, a taste of the spring season to come. The Department is excited to learn who will join us as residents when match day arrives in a couple of weeks! Of course, some of us are looking forward to college basketball’s March Madness, even if it will be under pandemic rules.
This newsletter reminds us of some wonderful recent recognitions for several faculty. Dr. Ted Mikuls, Vijaya Bhatt, Sarah Holstein, Diana Florescu, and Bryant England were honored at the UNMC wide research awards presentation in late February. Dr. Angela Hewlett is the recipient of a new endowed Orr Chair in Health Security and we are grateful Dr. George Orr and Linda Orr for creating this gift. Our Top Teachers for residents and students was announced and we have that list here. (Top Teachers for the fellowship programs have also been completed and various divisions are making these announcements and we will have a listing in the next newsletter.) We celebrate several inductees into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) with residents Dr. Hannah Artz and Dr. Luke Witt and faculty members, Drs. Rachel Johnson, Jasmine Marcelin, and Ryan Mullane.
We are excited to be welcoming in June Dr. Ruxana Sadikot as the new division chief for PCCMS. Dr. Sadikot will come to us from Emory University and the Atlanta VA. You will learn more about her in an upcoming newsletter. We have started the search for the new division chief for General Internal Medicine as Dr. Tom Tape has announced his intention to retire in the fall of this year.
Our interventional cardiovascular medicine group led by Dr. Chatzizisis placed a new first of its kind coronary artery stent in patients on February 11th. As this was the first time this type of stent was used anywhere in the US, it was a big day for them, their patients, and our healthcare system with great use of the iEXCEL building and its resources to teach regarding this stent.
Please check out the various sections of the newsletter to see what the residents have been up to (Clash of Clashes) and resources for faculty development regarding education tools, diversity, equity, and inclusion and more.
The education program presented an excellent grand rounds on March 5th (thanks, Dr. Marcelin!) and as a part of that day, we had a moment of silence to remember Dr. Jarrod Dye, our resident, who died from suicide on Feb 28, 2018. Dr. Wichman reminded us then of our need as a medical community to care for the mental health of ourselves and our colleagues. Sadly, as we all know, later that afternoon we learned of the suicide death of Dr. Joe Stothert, a long-time trauma surgeon at our institution. Our hearts go out to Dr. Stothert’s family, his patients, and all those who worked with him on campus whether as a trainee, a staff person, or a fellow faculty member. We are mindful that many are hurting now. There are numerous resources to help us deal with our thoughts and feelings and we have resources listed in the newsletter. Please reach out to me if you are unsure of where to seek help. As many of you know, I lost a brother to suicide several years ago and thus, have a personal connection to that kind of loss. I also have many remembrances of how people in this department supported me in that loss.
I am looking forward to spring and all the activities it brings both in our academic world and outdoors. I want to remind us of our culture topic for March which is centered on blue chips. Blue chips are those things that are most important to us- personally, in our families, in our work environment. We need to keep those blue chips in mind as we deal with issues large and small. Just a reminder that our next department meeting is March 18th at 5pm by zoom. We will be reviewing the results of the AAMC Standpoint survey that we did last fall as one of the agenda items. Hope you can join us then.
All the best as we move forward together!
Internal Medicine Message From the Chair
