Joel Bessmer, M.D., doesn’t have time to twiddle his thumbs — not with an active clinical practice, not with 65 internal medicine residents to mentor and not with 10 children at home.
“I hope to be as famous at this university for my clinical and teaching skills, as I am for being the doc with all the kids,” Dr. Bessmer said after a day of appointments, meetings and rounds.
Among some, he already is.
An assistant professor of internal medicine, Dr. Bessmer has received this month’s Chancellor’s Gold “U” Award for outstanding teaching and compassionate clinical skills and an unfailing loyalty to UNMC.
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“He is an inspirational teacher and is widely considered by the internal medicine and med/peds residents as their clearly defined role model,” one nominator said. “He is instrumental in the increasing application of UNMC students into the field of internal medicine.”
“Despite his busy clinic schedule, Dr. Bessmer remains devoted to student and resident education,” another nominator said. “He represents the type of physician that all house officers and students aspire to be. He is compassionate and caring, and takes time to build a relationship with every patient as well as their family. His medical knowledge is extensive and he is always able to relate this information to patients in a non-threatening manner. In addition to being thorough, he is efficient and organized, and a true role model for our training program.”
So, how does a physician, mentor, teacher and father juggle everything? “It’s all about priorities,” Dr. Bessmer said from his fifth-floor office in UMA. “What is the priority now and today?”
One day, he said, it was delivering baseball equipment for his son’s game, which was scheduled to start in 15 minutes. One weekend, it was going to the hospital instead of grilling hamburgers for his family. “You respond to whatever the priority is at the time,” he said, noting, “I have a wonderful, understanding wife.”
For the past six years, Dr. Bessmer has spent the week of his wedding anniversary in Chicago, where he co-directs the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Board Review Course. At UNMC, he serves as associate director for the internal medicine residency program, which has approximately 65 residents who spend three years on campus learning the practice of internal medicine. In addition, he is the co-director of the medicine/pediatric residency program at UNMC. He is the medical director for Turner Park Clinic, a resident-run clinic, and also is the medical director for Baker Place Clinic.
The son of a retired truck driver and nurse, Dr. Bessmer remembers having his share of broken arms and ear infections while growing up in Plainview, Neb. Those experiences, coupled with a love of science, steered his curiosity toward medicine. “I’ve never looked back,” he said. “I enjoy seeing the positive results of helping patients and of being a teacher and mentor to residents.”
A graduate of then-Kearney State College, Dr. Bessmer earned his medical degree in 1993 from UNMC, where he did his internship, residency and then served as chief resident of internal medicine, before officially joining the staff in 1997.
For Dr. Bessmer, contact with patients is most rewarding. “It’s just such an awesome relationship,” he said. “You get to know them almost better than a friend. It’s a special bond.”
Relationships with medical residents are equally important, he said. “The mentoring and the teaching go hand-in-hand,” he said. “You can’t teach and not mentor and you can’t mentor and not teach.”
Dr. Bessmer enjoys college baseball, Nebraska football, and watching the Los Angeles Lakers. He recently ran his first marathon. Dr. Bessmer and his wife, Kathy, whom he met in junior high, have a large extended family, as well. He is the youngest of six siblings. She is one of 10 children. Their own children – six boys and four girls — range in age from 15 years to 9 1/2 months.
Regardless of his busy schedule, Dr. Bessmer is always upbeat. “When asked how he is doing, I have never heard him answer with anything less than “great,” one resident said.