New hire begins UNMC’s expansion at UNK

Sheila Fleer, a former high school math and chemistry teacher who became a physician assistant after having been inspired by one of her former students, has been hired as the first full-time faculty member for UNMC’s expansion on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus.

Fleer most recently served as coordinator of the Nebraska Joint Replacement Center at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She brings significant breadth and depth of experience, said Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., senior associate dean of UNMC’s School of Allied Health Professions.

As a physician assistant at Good Samaritan, she coordinated all joint replacement care and activity, collaborating with physicians, nurses, care managers, physical and occupational therapists, and patients. Her experience models the type of interprofessional, team-based care UNMC plans to teach the next generation of health care professionals, Dr. Meyer said.

In addition to also previously working as a teacher at Wheeler Central and Spalding Academy (Neb.) schools, Fleer was a statistical process control engineer and scaled the managerial ranks at West Pharmaceutical Services. She eventually traveled the world as a global project manager. But, with a young daughter at home, Fleer longed for fulfilling work back in central Nebraska.

It was about this time that she ran into a former student, a UNMC alumnus who had become a physician assistant. Fleer, whose family had long trusted PAs, found her next career path.

“It’s become my passion,” she said.

Her new position, as assistant professor of physician assistant education, based in Kearney, was perfect for someone who grew up on a ranch near Bartlett, Neb., and who graduated from what was then known as Kearney State College. She earned her master of physician assistant studies at UNMC in 2008.

The expansion includes a new $19 million Health Science Education Complex on the UNK campus. UNMC recently received accreditation approval to expand its physician assistant program and is set to enroll in 2015 an inaugural class of eight at the UNK campus, eventually expanding to an annual size of 16 PA students per year.

UNMC also will expand educational programs at UNK for physical therapists, clinical laboratory scientists, radiographers and diagnostic medical sonographers, as well as its master’s program for nurse practitioners and bachelor’s in nursing programs.

Though Fleer will be the first full-time School of Allied Health Professions faculty member on the Kearney campus when classes start in the new building next fall, she and faculty members on the Omaha campus will be teaching PA students on both campuses, thanks to state-of-the-art collaborative learning technology at both facilities.