Kim Jarzynka, MD, wasn’t dreaming of academic medicine when she left her hometown of Dodge, Nebraska, to attend the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Medicine. Her plan was to serve in rural Nebraska as a family medicine physician. And that is exactly what she did, working after residency in Broken Bow, Nebraska.
But…
Dr. Jarzynka, who has just been named the UNMC College of Medicine’s assistant dean for admissions and student affairs, began to realize she missed teaching. She wondered if she might have a bigger impact on health care in rural Nebraska as an educator rather than a community clinician.
“Growing up in a rural community, you definitely see the need there,” she said. “There is something about living in a rural community – you are taking care of individual patients, but you also are taking care of a community. Providing access to care is so important, especially in areas that aren’t close to larger cities, and we need well-trained physicians to serve those communities.”
Dr. Jarzynka began to feel that her calling might be to help provide more of those physicians, rather than being one herself.
“You definitely see the need, you’re immersed in it, and that drove my desire to want to have a bigger impact,” she said. “And I missed teaching. I didn’t realize how much teaching I was doing as an upper-level resident.”
So Dr. Jarzynka returned to UNMC.
In the more than two decades since, she has striven to have an impact on Nebraska’s underserved communities and also to help UNMC residents find their place as professionals. For the past 11 years, she has been the family medicine residency program director. She has also been helping med students decide if the specialty is the right fit for them. As the vice chair of education in the UNMC Department of Family Medicine, she helps oversee all of the education provided to students, residents, fellows and faculty by the department.
She also has been the assistant dean for admissions for the college, working with UNMC’s pathway programs to help hopeful Nebraska students who aspire to attend the UNMC College of Medicine. In the new role, her duties will expand beyond admissions to, in her words, “working with the students all the way through, and especially in preparation for choosing their residency.
“How students explore residency opportunities, how they dive into each of the specialties and make those decisions is really important,” Dr. Jarzynka said. “Helping them through that process is exciting.”
For Dr. Jarzynka, the new role is the latest step in her “bigger mission.”
“The ability to train residents, train students, who then go out into the state — or wherever they’re practicing — and make an impact, that is the reason I came back to UNMC. Being a part of getting students and residents trained to practice in rural and underserved areas of the state is really part of my personal mission. I’m excited with this new opportunity to focus more on the medical school side as well as the residents and pathway programs.”
Dr. Jarzynka’s expanded role in the college of medicine’s dean’s office will still leave her time for her education work in the department of family medicine and her clinical duties.
“I’ll still be seeing patients. I will teach residents and medical students in the clinic. I’ll continue as the family medicine vice chair for education. But I’m looking forward to expanding my role in the dean’s office, continuing to oversee the pathway programs, but also fostering the students through the entire process of medical school, making sure their needs are met and helping address any bumps in the road.”
She’s also excited at the prospect of the first medical school class starting at Kearney in 2026.
“There are many points along the journey that are important. Transitioning from college to medical school, from medical school to residency, from residency to practice – these transition points are crucial.
“The opportunity to have conversations with students and residents about the joys and challenges of being a physician, choosing a specialty, choosing where to practice, and the realities of that, both positive and negative, is important.
“I’m excited for the challenge and I really appreciate the opportunity.”