Gold Humanism Honor Society
The University of Nebraska School of Medicine Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society was founded in 2015 with support from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The UNMC chapter is part of the national Gold Humanism Honor Society that recognizes and supports humanistic exemplars in medicine. The inaugural class of medical students, residents, and faculty was elected and inducted in Spring 2015 and all joined together with the common aim of instilling a culture of respect, dignity, and compassion for patients and professionals at UNMC.
Being a member of the honor society is a significant honor and this status is recognized [by residency Program Directors as comparable to selection into other medical honor societies such as Alpha Omega Alpha.
The mission of the Gold Humanism Honor Society at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is to model, support, and advocate for humanism in medicine. We will pursue our mission through fostering compassionate patient-centered care, cultivating student-resident-faculty relationships, and providing student and physician outreach opportunities for the betterment of patients’ lives. We will recognize and award students, residents, and faculty who embody humanistic principles in their profession now, with the goal of continuing to nurture and support these principles throughout their future careers.
Humanism in health care is characterized by a respectful and compassionate relationship between physicians, as well as all other members of the healthcare team, and their patients. It reflects attitudes and behaviors that are sensitive to the values and the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of others. The humanistic healthcare professional demonstrates the following attributes (“I.E., C.A.R.E.S.”):
- Integrity: the congruence between expressed values and behavior
- Excellence: clinical expertise
- Compassion: the awareness and acknowledgement of the suffering of another and the desire to relieve it
- Altruism: the capacity to put the needs and interests of another before your own
- Respect: the regard for the autonomy and values of another person
- Empathy: the ability to put oneself in another’s situation, e.g., physician as patient
- Service: the sharing of one’s talent, time and resources with those in need; giving beyond what is required.
Each Spring, medical students are asked to nominate their peers and residents for induction into the UNMC Chapter of Gold Humanism Honor Society. Students who receive the top 20% of votes are asked to send in a curriculum vitae and complete an essay answering the following questions:
- How do you exemplify the characteristics of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (provide examples)?
- If you are selected to be a member of the honor society, how will you help to promote compassionate, patient-centered care at our institution?
Based on the cv and personal essays, selection committee members make the final determination regarding membership into the UNMC Chapter. A formal induction ceremony is held in the spring and includes the traditional pinning ceremony.
Chapter Activities
Emotionally supporting a patient during their most difficult of times will always be an aspect of being a physician. This is an enormous honor, but can also take a toll on health care providers. On the other hand, experiencing powerful and uplifting moments in the hospital or clinic is also an aspect of being a physician. In order to help improve resiliency, we host a weekly journal club. These sessions start with a prompt given by Dr. Bud Shaw. Students take some time to write a response then share their writing with a group of students that may be dealing with similar situations. These sessions are a safe place for students to share burdens or difficulties they may face. It is our hope that through writing we can learn to better take care of our patients and ourselves. If interested or for more information, email the UNMC chapter.
Members of the UNMC chapter sought ways to remain helpful in the medical field and in our local community during the COVID-19 pandemic and a Pen Pal Program for patients at Nebraska Medicine. The students write their well wishes to patients who may be facing difficulties and have them delivered every month. Patients have the option to write back to the students if they wish to keep the conversation going. We hope that these letters will help bring some joy into patients’ lives. Email for more information.
Several times a year, we organize dinners hosted by interested faculty for students. We aim to bring together medical students, residents and faculty in an effort to combat the compassion-fatigue that can develop in the process of our education, training, and careers. It is our hope that these dinners will be a forum through which we can discuss our experiences, give and receive advice, and support our fellow students and colleagues in every level of professional training. By supporting and growing with each other, we also mold each other into positive, compassionate people who prioritize advocacy for patients. Groups will be limited in size in order to preserve a sense of camaraderie and familiarity amongst attendees. Email for more information..
The hospital is filled with a diverse array of patients. Some rooms are filled with family and friends, cards and pictures, balloons and flowers. Other rooms, unfortunately, remain empty. The goal of Sunday Rounds is to tend to these patients. We gather a group of volunteers to visit these patients, whether virtually or in person, twice monthly. This gives us the opportunity to listen, talk and support patients. Our hope is that a short visit from us will bring them some joy. One of the goals of the honor society is to foster compassionate, patient-centered care; we believe that visiting patients for the sole purpose of hearing how they are doing is a large step towards this goal. This project also gives students the opportunity to experience patient interaction early in their medical careers while providing patients with a much needed respite from the constant discussion of only their medical woes. Students from all four years of medical school are welcome and encouraged to participate in this project whenever they are able.Email for more information.
Each year, a member of our group gives a speech at the White Coat Ceremony for incoming first-year medical students emphasizing the importance of being compassionate when caring for patients. Each student also receives a letter written by us and a Gold Humanism pin for their white coats. This will serve as a reminder to continue to practice patient-centered care. Our goal is to instill the importance of patient-centered care early on in order to keep pushing students to be the best they can be for their patients.
Current Class
Medical Students
- Bridget Backer
- Stephanie Dong
- John Glassman
- Leah Heyen
- Alisha Huynh
- Maggie Kempf
- Abraham Killanin
- Abigail Klammer
- Violet Kryzsko
- Taylor Nelson
- Insaf Omar
- Margarita Pipinos
- Jessica Preece
- Sophi Sanchez
- Ellie Staab
- Allison Zetterman
Residents
- Mallory Barry, MD
- Justus Boever, MD
- Kate Bednarke, MD
- Joni Herskovitz, MD
- Adam Cloos, MD
- Elizabeth Maginot, MD
Faculty
- Amber Brown Keebler, MD
- Armando De Alba, MD, MPH, PhD
- Mary Gallager Jansen, MD
- Arika Hoffman, MD
Leadership
- President: Binh Le
- Vice President: Lauren Klingemann
- Treasurer: Courtney Doherty
- Secretary: Chase Jablon
Past Inductees
Medical Students
- Nick Amendola
- Joe Levey
- Molly Antonson
- Mikayla McKee
- Jay Byrd
- Kim Nguyen
- Laura Ebers
- Nam Nguyen
- Jess Hack
- Max Regester
- Madison Han
- Luke Siedhoff
- Joe Kleinsmith
- Jainaha Srikumar
- Kennedy Kluthe
- Currey Zalman
- Courtney Doherty
- Chase Jablon
- Lauren Klingemann
- Kaitlyn Thompson
- Logan Braumberger
- Grace Kelly
- Anna Dorhout
Residents
- Anna Adamson, MD
- Jennifer Luedders, MD
- Rees Adomako, DO
- Maxwell Lydiatt, MD
- Geoffrey Allison, MD
- Hannah Artz, MD
- Kelli Mans, MD
- Jared Baxter, MD
- Haley Mathews, MD
- Katie Berky, MD
- Philip McCarthy, DO
- Jana Binkley, MD
- Samantha McGirr, MD
- Mollie Brittan, MD
- Frank Mezzacappa, MD
- Justin Burr, MD
- Andrew Nguyen, MD
- Caleb Cave, MD
- P. Jeremy Nguyen-Lee, MD
- Michael Choi, MD
- Joe Pachunka, MD
- Cason Christensen, MD
- Elsa Parr, MD
- Dallin Christensen, MD
- Jeremy Payne, MD
- Madeline Cloonan, MD
- Abby Riese, MD
- Matthew Dorwart, MD
- Evan Ryan, MD
- Amy Dreessen, MD
- RemyGrace Sass, MD
- James Fagerland, MD
- Blaine Schlawin, DO
- Matthew Freeman, MD
- Sophia Schneider, MD
- Kassondra Frith, DO
- Hannah Siel, MD
- Natasha Gallett, MD
- Alexandra Sorrick, MD
- Jacob Givens, MD
- Morgan Steffen, DO
- Katelyn Haiar, MD
- Jeffrey Wallman, MD
- Kurtis Johnson, MD
- Landon Withrow, MD
- Matthew Kelly, MD
- Brett Van Briggle, MD
- Nora Kovar, MD
- Nathan Van Winkle, MD
- Terrance Kumar, MD
- Debra Wekesa, MD
- Joshua Lallman, MD
- Nicholas Yeutter, MD
- Raquel Lamarche, MD
- Shelby Liesemeyer, MD
Faculty
- Allison Ashford, MD, faculty adviser
- Trek Langenhan, MD, faculty adviser
- Riley Machal, MD
- Lynn Mack, MD
- Nate Anderson, MD
- Arun (Chetaj) Mahabir, MD
- Alёna Balasanova, MD
- Elizabeth Mahal, MD
- Sara Bares, MD
- Katie Maliszewski, MD
- Cody Bonk, MD
- Jasmine Marcelin, MD
- Stephen Brannan, MD
- David Mercer, MD, PhD
- Kelsie Cabrera, DO
- Ryan Mullane, MD
- Erin Cameron-Smith, MD
- Alisha Nabower, MD
- Amy Cannella, MD
- Ramzy Nakad, MD
- Don Coulter, MD
- Chelsea Navarrette, MD
- Laura Cudzilo-Kelsey, MD
- Amy Neumeister, MD
- Robert Cusick, MD
- David O’Dell, MD
- Mathew Day, MD
- Prasanth Ravipati, MD
- Hannah Donaldson, MD
- Adam Reinhardt, MD
- Kilie Donovan, MD
- Sarah Richards, MD
- Steven Ebers, MD
- Kerry Rodabaugh, MD
- Bryant England, MD, PhD
- Deb Romberger, MD
- Charity Evans, MD
- Khalid Sahak, MD
- Nada Fadul, MBBS
- Ashish Sharma, MD
- Wendy Grant, MD
- Byers (Bud) W. Shaw, Jr., MD
- Karisa Hajek, MD
- Stephanie Sutton, MD
- Cynthia Hernandez, MD
- Diego Torres-Russotto, MD
- Rachel Johnson, MD
- TJ Welniak, MD
- Andrea Jones, MD
- Rae Witt, MD
- William Lyons, MD
- Jill Zabih, MD