PM&R Newsletter
News from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - Spring Edition
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FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR |
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Spring is off to a great start. With vaccinations now readily available, we all can feel somewhat safer in our interactions with each other and the public. UNMC has updated guidance for all employees:
Our department continues to expand. We have a new faculty member starting July 1 who will work at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital Omaha. We continue to recruit faculty and will have a booth at the AAPM&R Job Fair in Nashville this fall. We have a full residency complement also starting July 1 with 4 new PGY-1 residents giving us a total of 16 residents in the program. Our two senior residents, Bryan Baker and Rohit Nalamasu, will graduate to pursue fellowship opportunities, and we thank them for their hard work these past several months.
We welcome our new Chief Resident, Sonia Shah, to this role. She is working with me on spinal cord injury acute care guidelines which will be implemented at Nebraska Medicine. She will be an energetic chief who will help facilitate a transition for our new residents into their respective roles.
We value our partnerships with our affiliated institutions including Nebraska Medicine, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, and the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System. I am involved with the Post-Acute Care Executive Committee at Nebraska Medicine to evaluate opportunities for improvement in this important phase of care, which includes skilled nursing facilities and home health care as well as inpatient rehabilitation facilities and outpatient therapies. Dr. Weaver continues to grow the Amputee Clinic at Nebraska Medicine. Dr. Choi is seeing patients with spine pain and available to perform procedural interventions at the Nebraska Medicine Village Pointe location.
Our new Madonna Physicians’ Clinic is open and provides faculty and residents a spacious and well-furnished facility for outpatient care. In collaboration with Nebraska Medicine and UNMC faculty, I also have been involved in the development of multidisciplinary clinical care for patients post-Covid-19 some of whom have rehabilitative needs. Our physicians provide care for such patients in our new Physicians’ Clinic as well as all types of neuro-rehabilitative needs, including brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury and other diagnoses.
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Dr. Samuel Bierner joins Post-COVID collaborations |
Click here to read more about how the post-Covid clinic is providing personalized treatment and helping us to understand the long term affects.
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Madonna expansion increases opportunities for residents |
Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital has expanded its Omaha campus with the March opening of a new outpatient clinic. The Madonna Physicians Clinic will help fill community needs for physiatry care while enhancing the UNMC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's resident education and training, as well as research opportunities.
The 7,800-square-foot clinic features a patient check-in and waiting area, dedicated physician workspace and eight exam rooms equipped with the latest technology for vision services, concussion assessments and follow-up appointments.
Read more about the opportunities PM&R residents have at the new outpatient clinic here.
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As our year comes to an end, we have many transitions in the works. Dr. Bryan Baker completed his time as the very first Chief of PM&R in April, when Dr. Sonia Shah took over.
Congratulations to Dr. Bryan Baker and Dr. Rohit Nalamasu, our first program graduates. We want to wish them well as they set off on their next step of their journeys. Dr. Baker is headed for Cleveland Clinic for a Spine fellowship and Dr. Nalamasu is headed to a Pain fellowship at University of California Davis. We are thrilled to celebrate their achievements with them at our Graduation dinner on June, 11th.
There are several rotation changes starting this July. The 4th year residents will be taking over as “mini-attendings” of the Complex Medical Unit at Madonna Rehabilitation Omaha. The interns will be doing a rotation with the Neuro-ICU, in place of their previous ICU rotation. Finally, both the 3rd and 4th year residents will be starting on a consult rotation with PM&R at MRH-O and UNMC this year. We look forward to another successful year!
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All of the residents had the opportunity to participate in a resident retreat in March.
As part of this retreat, guest lecturers were brought in to talk about various topics including, contract negotiation, generational differences, and cultural shaping.
Following these lectures, the residents planned an outing to TopGolf to unwind and relax together as a program.
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Congratulations to PM&R's New Chief Resident |
Name: Sonia Shah
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
New title and department at UNMC: Chief Resident - Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Research (or Professional) Interests: Spinal Cord Injury, Spasticity, Neurorehabilitation
How I fell in love with PM&R: In medical school, I really enjoyed neurology and the science behind neurological injuries, however I wanted to do more to help people get back to their lives after an injury. I fell in love with PM&R because I get to help patients with those neurological diseases, but I get to focus on improving their quality of life. I also really enjoy working with an interdisciplinary team and playing on everyone's expertise in order to give patient's the best chance of success.
Degrees: I went to Marquette University of my undergraduate degree and majored in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics. I then went on to get my medical degree at Creighton University.
Three things people may not know about me:
1. Back in college, when my joints were more nimble, I was a world champion gymnast.
2. My dad was born in India and my mom was born in Nigeria.
3. I have an obsession with small white dogs (specifically Malteses) and tiny cutlery.
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Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's Student Interest Group |
Dr. Hope Voto is helping to grow the Student Interest Group (SIG) for the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The aims of the PM&R SIG are to:
1) Foster interest in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation among medical students at UNMC.
2) Provide mentorship to students seeking a career in physiatry - this is to include guidance in setting both short-term goals, such as success in matching, and long-term goals after medical school.
3) Host didactic sessions in which Omaha area physiatrists educate students about a variety of topics within the realms of clinical & academic physiatry; and
4) Coordinate engagement activities, such as clinical shadowing experiences and networking opportunities, where students interested in the field can connect with PM&R residents, fellows, and faculty.
Interested in joining? Send us your contact information here.
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Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Staff Volunteer |
The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation staff took the opportunity to volunteer for their community by helping at a local COVID vaccination clinic.
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Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
981225 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-1225
402-559-7775
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