Pope, ‘icon to medical students,’ wins Gold ‘U’ Award

Sue Pope might not have stayed at UNMC long, had it not been for a green, 1970 Plymouth Duster.

“I wanted that car and my parents said I’d have to pay for it,” Pope said, remembering the sweltering temperatures inside the un-air-conditioned car with its white vinyl top and black interior.

Pope has long since retired the vehicle, but her passion as program coordinator in the College of Medicine’s Office of Admissions and Students remains strong nearly 33 years later. “I still find the work gratifying, exciting and challenging,” she said. “I love working with the students, and the people I work with are fantastic.”

For her outstanding performance, Pope has received the Chancellor’s Gold ‘U’ Award for May. “She has helped thousands of medical students throughout her tenure and has become an icon to the student body,” said one nominator.

Another nominator praised her ability to juggle a multitude of tasks with ease. “She is so well organized she can accomplish as much as two similarly trained individuals,” her nominator said. “Her service to faculty and students is as good as it gets…It is easy to take people like Sue Pope for granted. We should never do so.”

“Sue is the ‘memory’ for the College of Medicine,” another nominator said. “She is well known for the excellence of her work.”

An Omaha native, Pope was only 19 when she left the daily grind of transcribing insurance company claims for the job variety offered at UNMC. Initially, she shared a tiny office with the registrar. The office was so cramped that she had to step away from her desk each time the registrar opened a file cabinet drawer. Within weeks, she moved into the newly built Wittson Hall.

Her job responsibilities — as numerous as her years on campus — include:

• Scheduling clinical rotations for junior and senior medical students;

• Staffing the Curriculum Committee, Scholastic Evaluation Committee and Clerkship Directors Committee for junior medical students;

• Developing the Dean’s letter, which is the official recommendation letter for a student’s residency placement;

• Organizing the first-year medical student fall orientation, Match Day and the college’s honors convocation and hooding ceremonies;

• Assisting with the College of medicine’s Scholarship Committee, which distributes more than $1 million in scholarships each year to new and returning students;

• Serves as medical school liaison to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).
  

“This office does just about everything except financial aid,” said Pope, who also helped with college admissions for 21 years.

“Some say ‘the grass is greener on the other side,’ but, I don’t think it could get much greener than here,” said Pope, who was delivered by Leon S. McGoogan, whose name graces UNMC’s Library of Medicine.

Pope said her father, a postal employee for 38 years, instilled her “stick-to-it-ness” work ethic, stressing: “If the going gets tough, you hang in there and don’t quit.”

Although she dreamed of being a teacher or nightclub singer, she so enjoyed her job at UNMC that she opted not to go to college.

Outside the office, Pope is an avid NASCAR fan, has collected nearly 700 Beanie Babies, and enjoys reading, movies and watching taped episodes of “Alf.” She also has collected countless memories of students, who view her as a mother figure, friend, confidant and supporter. In appreciation, one recently sent a dozen roses. “He thinks I went above and beyond the job, but I see it as all in a day’s work,” she said. “It’s gratifying when they graduate to know that maybe, in some small way, I contributed to that.”