First off, UNMC Today thanks those of you who presently serve or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Secondly, in recognition of Veterans Day, UNMC Today takes a look at some of the medical center programs that help past and present military members and their families.
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The Munroe-Meyer Institute offers a program that allows military members with children with autism to continue their treatment at MMI via technology to ensure continuity of care. |
- Distance programs available to veterans, active duty military members and their families that provide degree advancement options for currently practicing professions in four different allied health disciplines (clinical laboratory science, radiation science technology, physician assistant, clinical perfusion). During the 2010-2011 academic year, these four programs granted 15 bachelor’s degrees and 212 master’s degrees.
- Courses applicable to military personnel and families interested in applying to any health professions program at UNMC or other institution (offered in cooperation with undergraduate campuses in Omaha and Lincoln). These courses are offered via distance education so that deployed personnel may complete prerequisites without campus visits.
- Through a contract with the Department of Defense, the Physician Assistant Education Program is offered for all branches of the U.S. military at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. UNMC awarded 193 bachelor’s degrees and 198 Master of Physician Assistant Studies degrees to military personnel in 2010-2011.
Wayne Fisher, Ph.D., professor in the Munroe-Meyer Institution and director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, leads a telemedicine initiative, funded through a $1.5 million grant, to use technology to enhance applied behavioral analysis programs for children with autism in military families. For these families, access to treatment and continuity of treatment is difficult due to moves. This initiative trains parents and caregivers so that treatment may continue if families are transferred.
A family medicine residency training program, through which UNMC partners with the U.S. Air Force at Offutt Air Force Base has in 19 years become the second largest family medicine residency training program in the nation. One-hundred fifty physicians have completed the program. Each year, eight residency training slots are filled by active-duty Air Force residents. These family medicine specialists provide outstanding, cost-effective care for active-duty Air Force personnel and their families.
I am grateful for the help UNMC provides to our U.S. Armed Forces as the parent of a son serving active duty in the Army. It makes me proud to work here.