Resident & Fellowship Awards

2023 Winner Ashley Hein, MD

The Excellence in Peer Resident Teaching Award is intended to recognize the valuable contribution of pathology residents in a wide variety of teaching activities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Selection for the award is based on the amount and quality of teaching. Residents are encouraged to submit any teaching evaluations they may have as support for the award.

Teaching activities include, but are not limited to M1 and M2 small groups; M2 laboratories; M4 supervision during Anatomic Pathology rotation; training of junior pathology residents on Autopsy and Surgical Pathology services; presentations to medical technologists and cytotechnologists; participation in planning or designing instructional teaching materials; and entoring activities, including participation in the Pathology Student Interest Group, residency fairs, etc.

2022 Winner Jeffrey (John) Cannatella, MD

The Excellence in Fellow Teaching Award is intended to recognize the valuable contribution of pathology fellows in a wide variety of teaching activities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Selection for the award is based on the amount and quality of teaching.  Residents, Co-fellows, and faculty are encouraged to submit any teaching evaluations they may have as support for the award. 

Teaching activities include, but are not limited to M1, M2, and BOD small groups; M2 laboratories; M4 supervision during Anatomic or Clinical Pathology rotations; training of pathology residents on Surgical Pathology, Molecular Pathology, or Hematopathology services;d idactic lectures to Allied Health Students, including cytotechnology students, medical technology students, Biology of Disease students etc.; participation in planning or designing instructional teaching materials; and mentoring activities, including participation in Pathoblasts, resident fairs etc.

2022 Winner Ahmad Alshomrani, MBBS

A quality improvement project is a focused and structured effort to achieve better outcomes of a given process. Some of the earliest formal quality improvement initiatives originated in the manufacturing industry with the goal of avoiding production defects and improving efficiency. Similar quality improvement efforts have since been adopted by the healthcare industry. The goals of healthcare related quality improvement projects are often to increase patient safety and to avoid the waste of limited resources. As leaders of the healthcare community, it is essential that we play an active role in the never-ending effort to improve the care of our patients. One way to do this in a fashion that may help a large number of patients is to take part in quality improvement projects. Furthermore, resident and fell involvement in quality improvement efforts is mandated by the ACGME Common Program Requirements.

Quality Improvement Projects for each trainee is required to participate in at least one Quality Improvement (QI) project during their time in the program as a graduation requirement. Residents/fellows are encouraged to generate ideas for a quality improvement project themselves, but faculty members may also identify projects and invite residents and/or fellows to participate. Projects must be related in some way to patient care and be done under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Multiple trainees may participate in one QI project with the approval of the program director and faculty advisor. Each trainee is to complete a proposal form prior to beginning the project and outcomes report upon completion or prior to graduation. Both forms are approved by the faculty advisor and program director (or designee) per instructions. Progress will be reviewed at semi-annual evaluations.

Austin Hemlink, MD

2023 Recipients

Best AP Manuscript - Austin Hemlink, MD
"60-year-old male with rapidly progressive pneumocephalus caused by Clostridium septicum in the setting of an occult colonic adenocarcinoma."

Pranav Renavikar, MBBS

Best AP Poster/Abstract - Pranav Renavikar, MBBS
“Extent of Primary Gleason Pattern 4 Carcinoma Predicts Adverse Outcome Independent of Secondary Pattern 3 or 5 in Prostatic Needle Core Biopsies.” ​

Best CP Poster/Abstract - Pranav Renavikar, MBBS
"Reduced intraobserver correlation of blast identification by digital scans of peripheral blood smears compared to other morphologic criteria.​"