IM Alumni
News from the Department of Internal Medicine's Residency Program
March 2023
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Message from the Program Director |
I am excited to share this inaugural edition of the UNMC Internal Medicine Residency Alumni Newsletter with you. We are creating this newsletter to stay connected with our graduates, celebrate your successes and life adventures, and share the residency program's accomplishments, educational enhancements, and innovations.
We have seen a lot of growth and development at UNMC and in the Department of Internal Medicine over the years, including the residency program growing to almost 100 residents! We are excited about this growth as it allows us to continue to provide top-tier education to our future physician leaders and expand our patient care reach. In addition to increasing our size, we have four formal tracks through the NRMP: Categorical, Medicine-Geriatrics, Primary Care, and Preliminary. We continue to attract outstanding UNMC Primary Care students who continue their training with us!
By the time this newsletter reaches you, we have concluded another outstanding recruitment season via Zoom (our method since the COVID pandemic). Despite the virtual recruitment, we continue to attract medical students from all over the country who want to do their training in a phenomenal learning environment. This year, we matched 50 percent females (which may be a first!) and continue to work on enhancing recruitment for those underrepresented in medicine through our DIVERSE task force.
In June, we will have our residency graduation banquet. This year, we will graduate 24 categorical residents and seven preliminary residents. We share below where our graduates are going. We had a fantastic fellowship match with residents matching in cardiology, hematology-oncology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, nephrology, and critical care at great places such as Mayo, the University of North Carolina and UNMC! Lots of our residents are staying in general internal medicine as hospitalists and primary care physicians. I am so proud of each of them as they leave our program and spread their wings!
We are incredibly proud of our alums! From the contributions made during residency to your leadership and work post-residency, you make an impact in the lives you touch. We would love to hear about your lives (weddings, babies, graduations) and the impact you are making in your communities!
Finally, I want to mention our program’s participation in the first-ever UNMC Giving Day. Consider giving to the residency program to support a range of general residency program initiatives, such as financial support for our health disparities and global health track, wellness activities for our residents, equipment purchases, and so much more.
We look forward to staying in touch.
Yours thankfully,
Tammy Wichman, MD
Program Director Internal Medicine Residency
James R. O’Dell, MD Professor
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Meet Our Program Leadership |
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Tammy Wichman, MD Program Director
Associate Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
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Brian Delaney, MD
Associate Program Director, Omaha VA,
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
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Trek Langenhan, MD Associate Program Director, Assistant Professor, Hospital Medicine
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Jasmine Marcelin, MD Associate Program Director, Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases
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Chad Vokoun, MD
Associate Program Director, Division Chief and Associate Professor, Hospital Medicine
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Rae Witt, MD
Associate Program Director, Assistant Professor,
General Internal Medicine
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Chief Residents 2022-2023 |
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Amy Dreessen, MD
UNMC Chief Resident
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Evan Symons, DO
VA Chief Resident
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Clayton Oakley, DO
Ambulatory Chief Resident
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Jonathan Hall, MD
Quality and Patient Safety Chief Resident
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Chief Residents 2023-2024 |
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Alex Sorrick, MD
UNMC Chief Resident
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James Fagerland, MD
VA Chief Resident
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Noel Bruner, MD
Ambulatory Chief Resident
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Jack Gallagher, MD
Quality and Patient Safety Chief Resident
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Our Mission & Guiding Principles |
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To develop extraordinary internists who value equity and provide compassionate care. |
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- Patient-centered, evidence-based care
- Commitment to lifelong learning
- Collaborative, team-based practice
- Education of colleagues and students
- Diversity and inclusion
- Culture of wellness
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- Pursuit of scholarly advancement, quality improvement and leadership development
- Promotion of health equity and patient advocacy
- Stewardship of medical resources
- Generosity of time and talents
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We are excited with our match results and can’t wait for our new interns to join us!
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Graduation Day Highlights |
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- The UNMC Internal Medicine Residency Program has a 100 percent board pass rate over the last six years.
- The majority of our residents go on to receive fellowship training after graduation. In 2022, all 13 residents who applied for fellowship matched. Three went to fellowships at Loyola, Mayo or Stanford and 10 with UNMC. Our 2023 graduating residents matched into fellowships here at UNMC, North Carolina, Mayo and the University of Iowa.
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We are proud of our residency program alumni! You can see from the "Where Are They Now?" list the different career paths you all have taken - from fellowships to hospitalists to traditionalists and even hybrid roles.
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With the expertise and commitment of Dr. Jasmine Marcelin, our residency program continues to develop programs designed to create a more inclusive environment. Since 2021, residency curricular experience called JEDI with Jasmine, has created a safe space for residents to discuss issues related to cultural competency, navigating structural discrimination, and effective allyship for their colleagues and patients.
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Resident Wellness Council |
Over the last several years, the Department of Internal Medicine residency program has formed a Resident Wellness Council which is guided first and foremost by resident input.
The purpose of the group, with faculty advisors Dr. Rae Witt and Dr. Katie Hutchins, is to assess and evaluate the wellness needs of our residents and then to creatively address these needs through a variety of approaches including fun and informative noon conference activities, team-building activities, social events, and enhancements to the resident lounge.
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Examples of activities organized by the group over the past year include a spring egg hunt, a fall pumpkin patch outing, a resident lounge ping pong tournament that culminated in a live, broadcasted finale, an island-themed noon conference with a mocktail competition (in February to combat the winter blues!), and seasonal decorations to brighten up the resident lounge.
The Resident Wellness Council complements other wellness initiatives of our residency program including class-specific retreats, wellness half-days and resources for timely healthcare, and a renewed emphasis on supporting diversity and inclusion within the program.
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Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Workshops |
With increased use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in clinical medicine and its inclusion in many medical school curriculums, many of our new interns are excited to expand and hone their skills in this area. To ensure our interns start residency with some understanding of POCUS concepts, it has been incorporated into new intern orientation.
Incoming interns attend a half-day POCUS “bootcamp” led by Dr. Christopher J. Smith, director of POCUS in the Department of Internal Medicine. These sessions include an introduction to POCUS, machine knobology, primers in cardiopulmonary ultrasound (with associated practice), and basics of image interpretation. Then, in late fall and late spring of the academic year, Dr. Smith leads two more half-day POCUS workshops focused on the use of POCUS in common bedside procedures and in the evaluation of the abdomen. These sessions are protected from clinical work and allow our interns to focus on building POCUS skills that they can take with them to the bedside.
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CodeBlue/Rapid Response Team Training |
One of the most anxiety-provoking roles of our residents is carrying the code/rapid response team (RRT) pager while on the medicine wards at Nebraska Medicine and the VA. Given the low frequency, yet high stakes nature of these events they are hard to teach in traditional settings.
Our teaching faculty, including Dr. Jodi Cantrell, from the division of hospital medicine, have tackled this challenge by creating simulated acute illness scenarios which are included in both new intern orientation and monthly during our hospitalist rotation. In these sessions, residents are taught the multidisciplinary team member resources available, common indications for a code or RRT being called, basics of BLS/ACLS, elements of closed loop communication, role delegation, and other pertinent concepts. Then teams of residents respond to a RRT of a simulation mannequin (who provides history, vitals, and physical exam findings) with a goal for the residents to obtain pertinent clinical data, develop a differential, and implement a management plan in urgent fashion.
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Health Educators and Academic Leaders (HEAL) |
A novel, extracurricular house officer track at UNMC is expanding in 2023 to become the first competency-based, interdisciplinary health educator track in the nation. Health Educators and Academic Leaders (HEAL) was a grass roots initiative that gained traction in 2019 due to increasing interest from residents and fellows to have formalized training in medical education. As internal medicine chief resident at the time, Dr. Cory Rohlfsen realized HEAL’s potential after reading more about clinical educator tracks.
“The idea immediately resonated with me,” said Dr. Rohlfsen, now an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine. “After my chief year, I felt a gap between where I was and where I wanted to be and I didn’t think additional experiences would get me there. I wanted expertise and while UNMC had great mentors and educational culture for modeling best teaching practices, it was missing the structured support that HEAL now offers.”
HEAL has now matriculated its second cohort for the 2022-2024 program with program participation by Internal Medicine residents and fellowships, Emergency Medicine, and Anesthesiology. Future plans are to expand the offerings to include learners from many other different specialties including Dermatology, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, and Neurology.
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion |
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Some of the recent DIVERSE task force activities include:
- two popular virtual open houses for the 2022-23 recruitment season
- participation in the Latino Medical Student Association and Student National Medical Association's Annual Medical Education Conference recruitment fairs
- a scholarship for a visiting student externship program providing funding to support a fourth-year visiting medical student who has a demonstrated experience in or a commitment to working with individuals who have been historically underserved in health care or underrepresented in medicine
The DIVERSE task force also has an outreach subcommittee which coordinates community events. Recently, this group hosted a health fair to screen for hypertension and diabetes and provide education to members of the community at a local barber shop.
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The first ever UNMC/Nebraska Medicine Giving Day provides alumni, donors, patients, faculty, staff, and students an opportunity to support a cause for which they are truly passionate.
We hope that you will consider the Internal Medicine Residency fund this inaugural Giving Day!
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Prasanth Ravipati, MD
UNMC Internal Medicine Class of 2017
UNMC Chief Resident 2017-2018
Fellowship: Nephrology and Glomerular Disease & Vasculitis, University of Minnesota
Current Role: Assistant Professor, Division of Nephrology
A little about me: I love tennis and Roger Federer is my favorite player of all time! I also love traveling to new places with my wife Liz and our daughter Margaret!
Words of Wisdom: Although the ease of digital communication is hard to resist, pursue face-to-face communication whenever possible. It takes away uncertainty of your message, enhances your ability to build meaningful work relationships, and provides an opportunity for humor! And create happiness in your work, rather than seeking it out. Exploit the opportunities that make you happy.
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Learn more about what's going on in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine in the latest newsletter.
We'd love to hear from you! Please keep in touch with us and share your news by submitting this brief form. Or Stephanie Hooten is the education programs administrator for the Department of Internal Medicine. Email shooten@unmc.edu with suggestions or if you have news to share.
And follow us on social media using the links below!
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UNMC Department of Internal Medicine
983332 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-3332
402-559-6315 (phone)
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