In honor of the College of Medicine’s 125th Anniversary, UNMC Today spoke with some retired faculty members and reflected on their years in the college.
Today we hear from F. Miles Skultety, M.D., Ph.D., who served as interim dean of the College of Medicine from July 1978 to February 1979 and wrote two historical volumes on the college, covering the years 1880 to 2000. Dr. Skultety retired in 1987 after serving 21 years on the UNMC faculty.
When I joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine on Sept. 1, 1966, as professor of neurosurgery, the physical facilities consisted of the University Hospital, South and North Halls (the latter was the original College of Medicine at 42nd Street and Dewey Avenue), Conkling Hall, the School of Nursing building, the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute, the Memorial Research Laboratory and the Eppley Institute. Children’s Memorial Hospital was on the west across 44th Street and Clarkson Memorial Hospital on the north across Dewey Avenue.
The University Hospital had 150 beds for indigent patients “… unable to pay for professional services at the hospital.” Faculty members were granted admitting privileges at Clarkson Hospital, but a close working relationship was openly resisted. There were approximately 20 full-time clinical faculty, including those of us who joined the faculty that year.
An individual suddenly transported from 1966 to 2006 would find the changes overwhelming. The number of buildings and total square footage occupied by UNMC at this time is far greater than in 1966. There are 403 full-time clinical faculty within the UNMC Physicians group and 21 part-time clinical faculty. I am proud to have contributed to the early years of changes. I have been retired for 19 years and except for a couple of “history books,” I can only stand at the sidelines and cheer on the present participants.
In my opinion, the formal merger of the University Hospital and Clarkson Hospital to create The Nebraska Medical Center was one of the most significant events in the history of the College of Medicine.
Since I joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine 40 years ago, in 1966, the college and medical center have become a nationally-recognized institution of education, patient care and research.