Kim Martin is GME senior program coordinator, residency, for UNMC’s Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. But Jesse Cox, MD, PhD, A(ACHI), an associate professor and director of the residency program for anatomic and clinical pathology, said coordinator doesn’t nearly begin to describe her impact.
“I have worked with Kim Martin for over 10 years, as a resident, a fellow, a faculty member, and now as program director. Her experience and genuine care for our residents and fellows has been and is absolutely exceptional,” Dr. Cox said. “She has helped dozens of trainees navigate the challenges as residents serving as a foundational resource and guide, and her efforts have been an essential aspect to my and their success in launching towards professional careers.”
A shepherd, in other words. “Shepherding is a nice word,” Martin said. “I usually say I boss around young doctors in training to make sure their files are in order and they stay accredited. I try to make sure our program stays in line with ACGME accreditation requirements. That’s what I do; that’s what I ask the residents to do. Every six months they have to send me updated CVs, and we run attendance reports.
“I do shepherd them,” she said. “I’m kind of like a counselor. They tell me more stuff than I ever wanted to know about themselves or problems they’re having with people in the department, that kind of stuff. So I listen. I’m a go-between between the resident and the faculty, and I bring serious situations up to leadership.”
Martin has been at UNMC 11 years. Before that, she spent 35 years at Creighton University, starting in the office of medical education and working with first- and second-year medical students and administering tests. She went on to manage the fourth-year medical student curriculum, and after that she worked in pathology, “doing the same thing I’m doing here,” as a residency coordinator.
She learned the value of collaboration at Creighton and brought that attitude to UNMC, where she works closely with Dani Blum, senior GME program coordinator, and Brianna Templeton, GME/UME program coordinator. “To me it works better with more people—so Bri, Dani and I share our files in Teams. That takes a lot of coordination. Because what I name something might not be the same as what Dani names it, so we have to talk about it. It forces communication, good communication. We have a kick-ass file system going on. But it takes maintenance. You have to look at it, and you have to talk with each other. Otherwise your files are going to be a hot mess. Plus if somebody’s gone, like when I was out, for the most part Dani could just pick up and do what I was doing. I don’t mean to simplify it by any means, because there’s enough work here for five of us, but she did a great job.”
Martin said that despite the challenges, “I like it here. I even like the grumpy doctors. I call them sunshine —hey sunshine, how’s it going? And somehow I get away with it. I’m not sure how. It’s been really busy, really, really busy. I think the education group that we have right now is amazing. Bri and Dani, are fantastic.”
Martin’s contribution hasn’t gone unnoticed. In October, she received the Excellence in Program Coordination Award from UNMC’s Graduate Medical Education Office. The award recognized her initiative, hard work, and leadership in the department’s residency program. It was well deserved, according to Lisa Roseland, administrative business associate for the department, who said Kim’s energy elevates the department’s clinical education team.
Martin also received a Silver “U” award in 2023. (The award is given annually to about 72 managerial professionals, office services, graduate assistants and other academic employees whose overall performance is above and beyond the scope of their position.)
“Dr. Talmon presented that to me at the graduation banquet,” she said. “I was super surprised, because I’m usually the one organizing all that. Dani had to keep that a secret from me. That was so cute.”
When Martin’s not at work, she likes to read and crochet. “I tried to make a sweater, and it was crooked. So I can’t make clothes, I don’t think. I can do a hat, because you just go around in a circle. I think I’m really good at making scarves. I use my extra yarn to make scarves for the homeless shelter, and I make little kitty pads for the humane society so the cats don’t have to stand on the bars in their cages.”
Another love is gardening. “I got these irises when my grandmother lived on a farm. She lived on a dirt road that was two miles long, and it was all lined with purple bearded irises. And they’re very, very fragrant. They’re some of the most fragrant irises that there are. She had peach and purple varieties. So I dug some up and put them in my backyard. It turns out that the neighbors aren’t as fond of irises, because they spread everywhere. It’s high-maintenance management of those. And I haven’t been able to do any gardening since July because I’ve been so darn sick.”
Martin had gone to an orthopedic surgeon. “My hip hurt—I thought I was going to be getting a hip replacement. He said something doesn’t look right, and he referred me to an oncologist. It went from I’m getting scheduled for surgery to I have cancer. I have lung cancer that has spread all over my body. In my bones, in my brain, in my liver. And then to be so sick since July was really hard.”
Chemotherapy infusions failed to eliminate the cancer, while the side effects left her feeling terrible. “Yeah, it was awful,” she said. Now she’s taking a daily chemo pill that she can tolerate better. “The hope is that pill will keep the cancer cells from growing. Quite honestly, that’s pretty good news. If we can just keep it there. So we’ll see how that works. I’ll know more in January, when I get a new set of scans.
“Just don’t say I got well, because I didn’t. It sucks. But I just decided let’s just see what happens. Because nobody knows how long I was sick before I went in about my hip. I could have had cancer for five years before that. We’ll just see what happens. If I start getting really sick, then I’ll quit. But if I’m not sick, I’m not gonna quit.”