Ashley Scheffer, MD

Assistant Professor, UNMC Division of Critical Care

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Pediatric patients display an incredible resilience when overcoming tremendous illness and disability. This resilience is what first drew me to pediatric critical care medicine. I am privileged to work with and care for patients and families during a difficult time in their lives and I am continually humbled by their strength and courage. My love for critical care started early on in medical school. I was drawn to pediatric critical care because of the patient population and the diverse array of pathologies. After going through my training process, however, I knew that my heart belonged to our pediatric patients in the cardiac critical care unit (pun intended). I chose to specialize in taking care of children who have various forms of congenital heart disease and heart failure.

Through my work as a pediatric cardiac intensivist, I enjoy the challenge of understanding how each patient’s cardiac lesion creates a physiology that is unique to them. I am fortunate to play a role in the large multidisciplinary team needed to provide such highly skilled and technologically advanced medical care. I am passionate about helping to build a positive team dynamic within our diverse group in order to provide high quality, evidence-based care. This field also provides me the unique opportunity to volunteer my time to help care for underserved populations internationally who would not otherwise have access to cardiac critical care. As I watch these patients progress through their course, many of them quickly healing, I am honored to have played a small role in their recovery.