UNMC Dermatology is pleased to announce an official partnership with VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System to provide exceptional dermatologic care to veterans in Nebraska, western Iowa and portions of Kansas and Missouri. This partnership has been in the works since 2018 and our first official dermatology clinic was held in January 2021 in the new Ambulatory Care Center at the Omaha campus. "Our entire team is honored to be able to provide general and surgical dermatologic care to our veterans," says Dr. Wysong, newly named Chief of Dermatology for the VA, "Historically, veterans have had to wait months or to be referred through the Care in the Community program to receive dermatology services. With our new partnership, we hope to retain care of our veterans in the VA system and to improve access for all."

In addition to being a key aspect of our clinical services, the VA partnership is also going to be key for our mission of educating the next generation of dermatologists for Nebraska and beyond. UNMC resident physicians and medical students will have regular rotations at the VA. First year dermatology resident Dr. Tyler Evans says about his experience at the VA, "The VA has been a great experience thus far. It gives me a sense of pride in taking care of those who risked their lives to allow us all the freedoms we have today. The veteran population is one of my favorites to care for. In addition to giving back to those who gave so much more, the VA also offers us abundant surgical and medical dermatologic training, helping us further our training and better care for our patients in the years to come."  

An estimated 45 to 60 percent of all Americans suffer from some form of vein disorder. Risk factors for developing vein disease include genetics, hormones, pregnancy and obesity. When veins become diseased, their valves no longer function properly leading to increased pressures in the venous system and vein enlargement. Varicose veins can range from an undesirable skin appearance to a serious health problem. Clinical findings include leg pain, fatigue, heaviness, swelling, stasis changes, lipodermatosclerosis, and ulcers.

Nebraska Medicine’s Department of Dermatology launched a Comprehensive Vein Clinic in the fall of 2018. Our team includes dermatologic surgeons Dr. Adam Sutton and Dr. Ashley Wysong who are certified by the American Board of Venolymphatic Medicine (ABVLM) for the treatment of venous disorders and Alesha Smith a registered vascular technologist (RVT). We offer on-site ultrasound performed by the RVT that is reviewed in real time by our physicians. This "one stop shop" process allows for same day consultation, ultrasound evaluation, education and development of a customized treatment plan for patients.

Current Position: First-Year master's student in the cancer research program & Wysong Lab

College or trade school attended for your profession: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)

What you like most about working at UNMC: Being able to collaborate with people who are genuinely very passionate about the work they are doing. This makes me want to work harder to get to where they are and motivates me to really do the best research I possibly can.

What first interested you in medicine/research: I was able to conduct my own research project at UNL under the supervision of an advisor. My project examined the impact of food insecurity, specifically limited protein intake, on the health of Ethiopians and Zambians. While conducting this research, I kept thinking of medical conditions involved with protein deficiencies and how this research related to health care. Since it was a student designed project, there were limitations to what I could study. I wanted to pursue a master's degree, specifically in medicine, to explore my curiosity around these topics.

Favorite or most interesting research project: I am currently working on looking at metastatic rates in immunosuppressed patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Even though I only have been working on this project for a short time, this is exactly the type of research I came to UNMC to conduct.

Why I am excited about my current research project: I am excited about getting to learn more about conducting research in medicine. I am also excited about learning more about my specific research, squamous cell carcinoma.

On March 19^th, the UNMC Dermatology team announced our six new future resident physicians to our ACGME program:

The UNMC Dermatology’s DEI committee had been hard at work over the holidays to find ways to give back to the UNMC and Nebraska Medicine community. In November, the department participated in a food and toiletry drive to donate to the University of Nebraska Omaha’s (UNO) Maverick Food Pantry that provides free resources to faculty, staff, and students at both UNO and UNMC who are facing food insecurity. With the help of our whole department, we were able to donate a trunk full of items. In December, our department collaborated with Nebraska Medicine in their annual Adopt-A-Family event. We were able to help a single mom and her five children by donating over $500 in gift cards for food, gas, and toys for the holidays. We plan to continue both of these drives every year around the winter holidays as well as find ways to give back to our community throughout the year.

Members of our committee and our department have also attended several events and presentations sponsored by the UNMC Office of Inclusion over the last couple of months. Dr. Sheritta Strong, Director of Inclusion at UNMC, and her team have been hard at work to provide the UNMC campus with opportunities to be part of virtual presentations followed by breakout sessions for open discussions. There are monthly “Conversations for Inclusive Excellence” that are to encourage the UNMC community to talk about tough subjects in a safe space to learn and grow with each other. February was Black History Month and UNMC provided an independent film screening followed by a two-hour discussion on the film Black Men in White Coats. There were several other virtual events throughout the month including UNMC Black History Trivia, Great Plains Black History, Museum Virtual Tour, Gospel Fest and History of Health Panels. The members of our committee come together monthly to discuss key takeaways from the events that they were able to attend the month prior. We also hosted our first Dermatology DEI virtual happy hour in March. Since March is Women’s History Month, we celebrated all of our she-roes in health care, the amazing women that have influenced our lives, and had fun learning more about each other in an informal setting. We had a great turnout and plan to host a few of these a year.

Karle Olnes, Co-Founder of UNMC Dermatology DEI Committee

As we started the new year full of hope and the extra pounds from the pandemic and winter we thought it would be great to do a challenge in our clinic. We came up with a 12-week weight loss challenge for those that wanted to participate in our department.

Each week we calculate and log our weight loss from the previous week or for some of us the weight gain. It’s a rollercoaster but we do keep each other accountable. We have set times to meet in the hall for pushups or wall sits for 5 minutes to keep the moral up.

Nebraska Medicine also offers through our Empower Your Wellbeing portal challenges that we can each sign up for. February was Be Kind to Your Mind. This challenge was focused on finding time for yourself. It challenged people to complete favorite hobbies, discover ways to relax and focus on self-care. While our clinic had a weight loss challenge we encourage everyone to remember your emotional wellbeing too. It’s easy to forget that with all the past year has thrown our way.

Our focus for March as an organization is Lead the Way. It’s a steps challenge where we log our steps each day. This was a great challenge for our clinic as most of us are walking a lot during clinic while taking care of our amazing patients.

Chantalle Ferguson, Patient Coordinator Sr. Associate for Nebraska Medicine Dermatology

We have been challenged in ways we never anticipated over the last year, yet have come together as a team to take exceptional care of patients and to move all aspects of our academic mission forward!

NEW FACULTY PHYSICIANS: Over the late Winter as vaccination numbers have increased and travel restrictions have loosened, our faculty recruitment efforts have moved full steam ahead! We are ecstatic to share that we have officially hired three new board certified dermatologists who will be joining our team late Summer/early Fall 2021. In alphabetical order:

PARTNERSHIPS: Since the first week of January, we are pleased to have our faculty and resident physicians practicing at the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System. This is an important partnership for the clinical and educational missions of the department and an honor to serve our veteran population.

We are also excited to announce the formal partnership between UNMC Dermatology and Children's Hospital and Medical Center (CHMC) of Omaha. Over the past 2 years, we have worked closely with CHMC leadership to build a business plan for the new Division of Pediatric Dermatology to include recruitment of 3-4 faculty physicians, development of educational and research programs, build a new pediatric dermatology clinic, design an ACGME fellowship in pediatric dermatology, and expand access to care for pediatric dermatology. We could not be more delighted for Dr. Nicole Harter to lead our team in these efforts as Chief of Pediatric Dermatology!

A PLACE TO CALL HOME: Since the official launch of the new Department of Dermatology in May 2018, no one could anticipate the rate of growth of our team nor the overwhelming need for dermatologic services in our region. We have outgrown our initial home in the Lauritzen Outpatient Center on main campus and have been working closely with UNMC and Nebraska Medicine leadership, as well as philanthropic partners, to identify a long-term home for UNMC Dermatology.

Specifically, our strategic plan involves designing space for the UNMC Department of Dermatology and Nebraska Medicine (NM) dermatology clinical services on the Med Center campus over the next several years. We are also expanding our dermatologic services with the development of a comprehensive clinical dermatology hub at Village Pointe. We are currently working closely with architects and NM ambulatory leadership to expand our comprehensive dermatology service at the Village Pointe project. In addition to main campus and Village Pointe, we will maintain access for patients in our "frontline dermatology clinics" embedded in primary care and other NM facilities to provide dermatologic care throughout Omaha and beyond.

DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been a pillar of our strategic plan since the inception of the department in 2018. I am extremely proud of the efforts of our Founding Co-Chairs of the Department of Dermatology DEI Committee founded this year by Dr. Kristie Hayes and Karle Cordova Olnes on our team. In great thanks to our philanthropic partners and in honor of our two founding Co-Chairs for DEI, we have established two new opportunities to support diversity in dermatology:

Visit us on the web at www.unmc.edu/dermatology