OUR HISTORY
1949 – Rural Preceptorship is established
1969 – Dr. Fay Smith, MD became the first Professor of General Practice at UNMC. Residency training programs in Family Practice began at UNMC.
1970 – UNMC’s Family Practice residency became accredited and approved by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents
1970 – Dr. Francis Land became the first Chairman of the Family Practice Department. During his chairmanship, the residency program expanded from four to 29 residents and a four faculty compliment.
1974 – Dr. Margaret Faithe served as Interim Chairwoman of the Department of Family Practice
1975 – Dr. Paul Young became the second Chairman of the Family Practice Department and continued to lead growth and expansion in the faculty and residency program
1980 – Dr. Margaret Faithe served as Interim Chairwoman of the Department of Family Practice. Dr. Faithe developed a training course for displaced foreign physicians from Vietnam, to assimilate them to American language, culture and customs, and provide them practice opportunities in rural Nebraska
1981 – Dr. Robert Bass served as the third Chairman of Family Practice and oversaw the development of a community-based rotation for Family Practice residents
1989 – General Internal Medicine and Family Medicine begin joint Primary Care Residency program
1990 – Dr. Michael A. Sitorius became the fourth Chairman of Family Practice
1991 – Rural Residency Training Tracks in Grand Island and Kearney were started
1992 – July, 1992 the department’s residency training program added the Family Practice residents from the United States Air Force – adding an 8x8x8 resident compliment and eight additional military faculty
1993 – Department begins Accelerated Residency program accepting four medical students
1996 – Department awarded first RO1 grant
1996 – Rural Residency Training Tracks in North Platte and Scottsbluff were started
2000 – Rural Residency Training Track in Norfolk was started
2003 – Department awarded second RO1 grant
2008 – Department of Family Medicine received the University-Wide Teaching Award from the University of Nebraska educational system
2009 – Department creates partnership with Xi’an Jai Tong located in China and hosts visiting professors
2010 – Department expands hospital services to Bellevue with the opening of the Bellevue Medical Center
2010 – Dr. Michael Sitorius honored for 20 years as Chair in the Department of Family Medicine
2013 – U.S. News & World Report ranks UNMC No. 6 in primary care
2013 – The joint family medicine department between UNMC and Tongji University in Shanghai is
established
2014 – U.S. News & World Report ranks UNMC No. 6 in primary care
2014 – Family Medicine Interest Group receives national award from the American Academy of Family
Physicians for professional development.
2015 - U.S. News & World Report ranks UNMC No. 4 in primary care
2016 - U.S. News & World Report ranks UNMC No. 5 in primary care
2016 – Department moves into former Orthopedics area to make room for new cancer center
2017 – American Academy of Family Physicians ranks UNMC eighth nationally in percentage of medical
school graduates who were family medicine residents
2019 - Addiction Medicine Fellowship begins in the Department of Family Medicine
2019 - The UNMC College of Medicine is ranked as having one of the nation's top 10 Best Primary Care Programs by U.S. News & World Report.
2020 - Dr. Jeffrey Harrison named the fifth Chairman of Family Medicine