In football, repeat undefeated seasons are a laudable – if not improbable – goal.
And eight perfect seasons are virtually unheard of – unless the team is UNMC’s Department of Internal Medicine.
For the eighth consecutive year, UNMC’s internal medicine residents have recorded a 100 percent pass rate on their American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) certification examinations.
Few programs have numbers comparable to UNMC. “With this string we are now in the top 1 percent to 2 percent of programs in the nation,” said James O’Dell, M.D., director of the internal medicine residency program.
The string involves 109 residents who have passed boards without a failure over the past eight years, said Dr. O’Dell, professor and chief of rheumatology and immunology and vice chairman for education in internal medicine. “It’s kind of like having an undefeated football season, but since we are talking about managers of peoples’ health arguably more important.”
It’s a special feat considering in New York, only one of the state’s 60 residency sites had 100 percent pass rates for the three-year period between 2002-2004. Those three years mark the most recent online data released by the ABIM, the national accreditation body. To view the residency program pass rates by state, visit the ABIM Web site at http://www.abim.org/resources/states/index.shtm.
Members of UNMC’s 2005 class, listed with their hometowns, are:
- Alisha Benner, M.D. — Los Angeles, Calif.
- C. Jose Friesen, M.D. — Henderson, Neb.
- Teresa Gray, M.D. — Coralville, Iowa
- Stephanie Hansel, M.D. — Fargo, N.D.
- Matthew Johnson, M.D. — Stamford, Neb.
- Farhan Majeed, M.D. — Exeter, N.H.
- Douglas Renton, M.D. — Bismarck, N.D.
- Russell Rhoades, D.O. — Provo, Utah
- Nicole Shonka, M.D. — Bellevue, Neb.
- Elizabeth Snow, M.D. — Omaha, Neb.
- Janna Ver Miller, M.D. — Higginsville, Mo.
- Brian Ward, M.D. — Columbia, Mo.
- Annemarie Whiddon, M.D. –Los Angeles, Calif.