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Paul Paulman, M.D., professor in the department of family medicine, with senior medical student Stacey Parker and her poster concerning research she did during her Family Medicine Junior Clerkship. |
The department relies on people, clinics and institutions across the entire state to help its 46 full-time faculty members annually educate 600 pre-medical and medical students, family medicine residents and other physicians.
And while this spread-out approach differs from most academic departments, it’s very effective. So much so, university leaders selected the family medicine department as the recipient of the 2008 University-wide Departmental Teaching Award (UDTA).
“Our family medicine department is among the nation’s best and it certainly is deserving of this recognition,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “I’m very proud of the work that’s done in the department and I’m thrilled to see the faculty and staff recognized in such a way.”
The department will be recognized for receiving the UDTA during the Annual Faculty Meeting on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Durham Research Center Auditorium.
The UDTA originated in 1993 and recognizes a department within the university system that has made a special contribution to teaching.
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The collaboration Dr. Sitorius mentioned is the keystone of the department’s efforts, particularly when it comes to the volunteer faculty members — 283 of them from all parts of the state — who host the roughly 120 medical students and 60 residents who serve family medicine rotations and residencies at UNMC each year.
“We received this award in large part because of the efforts of our wonderful volunteer faculty members,” said Paul Paulman, M.D., a professor in the department of family medicine. “We couldn’t do what we do if these people didn’t open their clinics to us in order to train our residents and students.”
Thanks to this volunteer help and the effort of the department’s full-time faculty, about 70 percent of Nebraska’s practicing family physicians have been trained at some point by UNMC’s family medicine department. This number also includes more than 85 percent of the family medicine physicians who work in parts of the state where a shortage of health care workers exists.
Angela Pruden, M.D., a family medicine physician in Broken Bow, Neb., graduated from UNMC in 2002 and completed a family medicine residency at the medical center in 2005.
A family medicine rotation in rural Nebraska was the most important part of her medical school training, she said.
“I would not have gained as much experience or practical knowledge had I trained in an urban setting,” Dr. Pruden said. “These experiences helped me prepare for my rural practice.”
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Associate professor of family medicine Jim Medder, M.D., right, works with students in the SHARING Clinic. The family medicine department plays a key role in supporting the student-run clinics, which provide care to underserved patients while simultaneously allowing students to get valuable hands-on experience. |
- SHARING Clinics — student-run health care clinics that have received national awards for their work with underserved patients;
- Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) classes — which help prepare first- and second-year medical students for clinical work; and
- The Family Medicine Junior Clerkship program — which allows each medical student to spend two months working one-on-one with a preceptor in a rural area.
Experiences in these programs have proved invaluable for Joseph Cheatle, who will receive his M.D. later this week at the College of Medicine’s commencement ceremony. His junior clerkship in Valentine, Neb., proved to be particularly important, Cheatle said.
“I was expected to see nearly every patient in the clinic, hospital and emergency department,” Cheatle said. “My preceptor made time to educate me in commonly encountered health issues and important techniques. This was my greatest learning experience to date.”
College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., said that each time he hears experiences such as Cheatle’s and Dr. Pruden’s, he is reminded of what a special asset the college has in its family medicine department.
“The department truly is an educational beacon for many people in this state,” Dr. Gollan said. “Our family medicine department has educated physicians that serve Nebraskans from Omaha to Scottsbluff and beyond. The department does amazing work and I’m delighted to see them recognized with this award.”
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UNMC’s full-time family medicine faculty |