{"id":117903,"date":"2024-12-17T14:29:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=117903"},"modified":"2024-12-18T08:21:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T14:21:36","slug":"deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean’s message: Embracing the change ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Driving near campus this weekend, I was pleased to see that the road construction at Saddle Creek and Leavenworth is about complete. What a relief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, later that same day, as I was feeling pretty good about the above, I made the mistake of deciding to drive around the Old Market area to see it decked out for the holiday. Almost every road was down to one lane, with traffic backed up for several blocks \u2013 far worse than when I was there only a few weeks earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminded me that there will always be change \u2013 it is part of life. As one chapter ends, another begins. There is no question that the coming new year will be an exciting and challenging one for all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the country, for the last year the University of Nebraska, UNMC and the College of Medicine have been going through a time of significant change in leadership that will undoubtedly alter the priorities and way some things have been done in past years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One recent and heartbreaking change – the passing this month of Ken Cowan, MD, PhD. As I told the college in a message sent earlier this week<\/a>, Dr. Cowan was a trusted and visionary colleague whose partnership I greatly valued as we worked to improve the quality and quantity of our cancer research and clinical programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also want to acknowledge the recent death of our medical school alumna and longstanding house officer, Dr. Elizabeth Tracey, and once again express our deepest condolences to her family and friends. We will all miss her. Please note the information in this issue of InterCOM regarding the upcoming memorial event for her on Jan. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other, less mournful changes abound. We have a new university president, an interim chancellor, and in spite of the successful recruitment of new chair of anesthesiology as noted in this issue of InterCOM, with Dr. Debra Romberger\u2019s recent announcement of her plans to step down as chair of internal medicine, we still have four clinical department chair positions in the college that will have searches for permanent leadership ongoing. That amounts to new leaders for more than 20% of the college\u2019s departments in the coming year, after having only one chair transition in the prior three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although leadership transitions can engender apprehension related to the unknown ahead, they also provide an opportunity to build on the accomplishments of the past and embrace the excitement that goes with new ideas, resources and expanded directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as we annually celebrate arrival of the New Year and the excitement of what is possible, let\u2019s take a similar approach to what is to come for the college \u2013 not just new chairs and other leaders, but the opening of a new campus in less than two years and what a new hospital building can bring to the campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the coming few weeks, please carve out some time to enjoy the excitement of the holidays with family, friends and colleagues. As always, thanks to those sacrificing free time to assure that our patients continue to receive great care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you each have a wonderful and productive Happy New Year!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":87403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"96567,91712,37553,50619,113223,59834","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-college-of-medicine","department-intercom","author_override-bradley-britigan-md-dean-of-the-unmc-college-of-medicine"],"yoast_head":"\nDean's message: Embracing the change ahead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dean's message: Embracing the change ahead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"608\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Keenan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Keenan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Keenan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/59c9598a54f1a531c30cccc1d010ac17\"},\"headline\":\"Dean’s message: Embracing the change ahead\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\"},\"wordCount\":536,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\",\"name\":\"Dean's message: Embracing the change ahead\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg\",\"width\":608,\"height\":405,\"caption\":\"Bradley Britigan, M.D., dean of College of Medicine.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dean’s message: Embracing the change ahead\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/unmc\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/59c9598a54f1a531c30cccc1d010ac17\",\"name\":\"John Keenan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/02e74f10e0327ad868d138f2b4fdd6f0\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dean's message: Embracing the change ahead","description":"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dean's message: Embracing the change ahead","og_description":"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":608,"height":405,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Keenan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Keenan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/"},"author":{"name":"John Keenan","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/59c9598a54f1a531c30cccc1d010ac17"},"headline":"Dean’s message: Embracing the change ahead","datePublished":"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/"},"wordCount":536,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/","name":"Dean's message: Embracing the change ahead","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-17T20:29:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-18T14:21:36+00:00","description":"As the New Year approaches, changes offer opportunities.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/BRADLEYBRITIGAN090122-e1677601344141.jpg","width":608,"height":405,"caption":"Bradley Britigan, M.D., dean of College of Medicine."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/deans-message-embracing-the-change-ahead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dean’s message: Embracing the change ahead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/59c9598a54f1a531c30cccc1d010ac17","name":"John Keenan","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/02e74f10e0327ad868d138f2b4fdd6f0\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117903"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118176,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117903\/revisions\/118176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}