Celebrating Dr. David Bolam's
51st Year with UNMC
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This year, David Bolam, MD, associate professor, Division of Neonatology, celebrates his 51st year of employment at UNMC. To mark this amazing accomplishment, we visited with Dr. Bolam to get an understanding of what his experience has been like and the secret to his longevity.
Dr. Bolam, as an instructor of medical school students, residents and fellows, how did your instruction differ from what current UNMC program enrollees receive?
Oh, it’s completely different. Medical students, residents and fellows are so much more supervised by faculty than we were. When I was a medical student, the Neonatology department consisted of one physician. Because of that, you had a lot of opportunity to take part in patient care in a more independent manner than trainees do now. My first night on call as an intern, I was assigned to cover any pediatric needs the emergency room had by myself, with faculty on call from home. I imagine the anxiety current med students, residents and fellows feel is similar to what I felt during that stage in my training, but thankfully, students, residents and fellows now have more support in helping patients and managing their stress.
How has the prognosis of neonatology patients changed over the course of your career?
When I joined Neonatology, the mortality rate of our patients was nearly 50 percent, and babies 2.2 pounds and under simply did not survive. Now the mortality rate of our patients is less than 5 percent and 1 pound infants regularly survive. Also, early in my career, if a pediatric patient was found to have acute granulocytic leukemia (AGL), the prognosis was generally death within six months. Now AGL is survivable. Lastly, meningitis was a common diagnosis of babies when I started, and now it is largely prevented by vaccines.
What has been the most satisfying aspect of your career as a neonatologist and educator?
As a physician, it has been wonderful to see more and more of our patients survive. And it’s been equally rewarding to experience class after class of med students, residents and fellows grow in their knowledge of medicine and understand their role in taking care of patients. It has also been meaningful to see the growth of care around Omaha. In my first year of pediatric residency, I was limited to practicing at University Hospital. The next year, Children’s opened to our residency, and we saw patients there. Now the Children’s and UNMC network of care is spread around the city and state.
What keeps you engaged and excited to come to work?
I’m 78 ½ years old, but I am still presented with challenges that I find interesting on a daily basis. I have avoided burnout because I still find my job fun.
What advice would you give to other doctors, if any?
Find joy in the reward of taking care of patients and working with the team of nurses. Regarding the latter point, nurses provide the most direct level of care to the patients you are treating. It is so important to respect the knowledge and experience that your nurses bring to the team.
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"It has been a privilege to work with Dr. Bolam over the last half of his career as a student, resident and colleague. His passion for Neonatology, the history of the sub-specialty and his energy to embrace a unit full of critical neonates 51 years into his career is inspiring. David is a friend and mentor, and I am thankful for his knowledge, insight and service to both our patients and UNMC over the course of his career. His wit, kindness to nurses and staff and his diagnostic skills have had a profound impact on those who are lucky enough to have worked with him."
Ann Anderson Berry, MD, PhD, Executive Director, Child Health Research Institute
Division Chief, Neonatology
"It's been such a pleasure working with Dr. Bolam as a colleague during my tenure here at UNMC. He always has sage advice, both at the bedside in the management of NICU patients, as well as when considering the business of medicine and healthcare. Congratulations on celebrating 51 years!
Kari Simonsen, MD, MBA, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, UNMC
and Pediatrician-in-chief, Children's Hospital & Medical Center
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New Feature:
Division Level Infographic: Pulmonology
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Our division consists of the combined pediatric specialties of Allergy & Immunology, Pulmonary Medicine, Sleep Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. In addition to the items above, we are heavily involved in community activities, including COVID-19 vaccination clinics with area schools, Not One More Life asthma activities, Nebraska Asthma Coalition, Cystic Fibrosis education days, Nebraska Sleep Conference, Morning Mindfulness and Meditation, Children’s Gala, 65 Roses – Cystic Fibrosis fund raising activities, and asthma screening with faith communities in North Omaha. In addition to the projects in development listed above, we plan to expand our sleep services to the Des Moines area and to provide expert pediatric-specific reading of both spirometry and sleep study interpretation to the entire region. We are involved in leveraging technology for long-term telehealth and remote patient monitoring for asthma, cystic fibrosis, sleep and trach/vent patients. Our team of providers, nurses and ancillary members is very close and provides a work family that is compassionate about the patients we care for and up to any challenge. Click here for the Pulmonology strategic plan and recent publications.
In the coming months, the divisions within the Department of Pediatrics will be providing overviews of their areas in the form of infographics and write-ups similar to the one above.
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Testimonials:
"Children’s Allergy has provided the best care over these past couple of years and we are most grateful to them for making sure that my little girl has received very thorough care. So definitely it's been a privilege and it's definitely been an honor being a patient here. Thank you so much."
- Allergy parent
"The staff was wonderful! They took great care of my daughter. They were friendly, caring and very open-hearted. They were GREAT!!! 5 Stars!"
- Sleep lab parent
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Dr. Robert Spicer Announces Retirement |
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Congratulations to Rob Spicer, M.D., division chief and professor of Cardiology, who has announced his retirement, effective Oct. 1, 2021. Dr. Spicer served for nearly 10 years, overseeing the programmatic growth of the division of Pediatric Cardiology, including the development of a Heart Failure and Transplant program, an Adult Congenital Heart Disease program and a Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship program.
Dr. Spicer is clinical service chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Children's Hospital & Medical Center and a clinical professor of Pediatrics at Creighton University School of Medicine. In 2015, he received the Hobart E. Wiltse, M.D., Ph.D., Excellence in Medical Education Award.
Dr. Spicer received his medical degree from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and completed his Pediatrics residency and his Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
“During Dr. Spicer’s tenure, he has grown the division faculty and programs. This growth has positioned Children’s to be the premier Cardiology group for a very large region for years to come,” said Chris Maloney, M.D., Ph.D., Children’s executive vice president, chief clinical officer & physician-in-chief. “I wish him all the best in his next life chapter.”
“It’s been an absolute privilege to work together with Dr. Spicer for the past nine-plus years at UNMC and Children’s,” said Kari Simonsen, M.D., MBA, senior vice president and pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s and chair, UNMC Department of Pediatrics.
“A key feature of his leadership is his unique ability to consider any issue from multiple perspectives and offer insights that others might not have identified. I will miss his wisdom, his eye for growth opportunities and his appreciation of the educational programs and research mission. He developed a strong and productive academic cardiology division that is rich with potential as we continue our trajectory of growth.”
Please join us in thanking Dr. Spicer for his years of service to Children’s and congratulate him on his upcoming retirement.
This story was written by Betsy Reese and originally published in the Children's publication, The Pulse.
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Residency Metrics Infographic |
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The graphic below was developed as part of the fundraising campaign for the Pediatrics Residency program. |
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From the Antiracism Committee: |
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The Department of Pediatrics Antiracism Committee is working to develop a living glossary to serve as a trusted resource for faculty, staff and trainees. We aim to provide history and context to terminology that is often misunderstood or misrepresented. The goal is for the glossary to serve as toolkit to assist with productive and informed conversations about race, diversity, equity and inclusion. The first definition is "race."
Race:
A social construct created by western Europeans in the 15th-17th centuries to justify colonization, conquest, enslavement and false social hierarchy among humans (adapted from the RACE project, Glossary; Kendi, 2016). The term is used to refer to groupings of people according to common origin or background and associated with perceived biological markers. Among humans there are no races except the human race. Ideas about race are culturally and socially transmitted and form the basis of racism, racial classification and often complex racial identities (adapted from the RACE Project, Glossary). Socially constructed concepts of race are not universal and vary by country and region. U.S. demographic units are not ‘races,’ but social units that were politically constructed (SOY Kieta et al., 2004, page S18 )
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RACE Project, American Anthropological Association; https://understandingrace.org/
- Conceptualizing human variation. S O Y Keita1,2, R A Kittles1,3, C D M Royal1, G E Bonney1, P Furbert-Harris1, G M Dunston1 & C N Rotimi1 NATURE GENETICS SUPPLEMENT VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 11 | NOVEMBER 2004
- Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped from the Beginning; The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Bold Type Books. New York. 2016
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Our Successes:
Department Celebrations
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The Department of Pediatrics shares accomplishments, publications and appointments. |
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This month we feature Kelly Kadlec, MD, MEd, associate professor, Division of Critical Care, and Erin McIntyre, research coordinator with the Pediatric Cancer Research Group (PCRG).
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What brought you to your given specialty/role?
I have had a very circuitous and unexpected route to my current role. My interest in medicine started when I was a lifeguard and went through a Basic Life Support course in high school. Prior to this experience, I was actually going to pursue a career in aerospace engineering at Iowa State. In college, at Creighton, my interests in medicine/acute resuscitation led me to becoming an EMT, and I was confident in my trajectory to become an ER physician. I went through two years of ER residency in Little Rock, Arkansas, where I, again, switched paths to pursue a career in pediatric critical care. This was inspired by two things – my second year PICU rotation seemed to have everything I wanted in medicine (high-acuity, procedural opportunities, continuity of care, complex physiology) and my tiredness and frustration dealing with adults in the ER! So, I went to Phoenix for residency, Minneapolis for fellowship and now I am back in my hometown – and could not be happier.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
Fly fishing in Montana! I love to fish and Montana is unbelievably beautiful, with many areas that are absolutely untouched by humans. It is not uncommon to be fishing on a river for several hours and not see any other person, or anything humanly constructed. Serene is the best word I can use to describe it.
Is there any medicine-based book, music or TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others? Or anything outside of the medical world that you recommend?
I tend to avoid any television related to medicine – that is literally the last thing I want to do during downtime from my job! But, there are many medically related books which I have read and would highly recommend: Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Being Mortal, Oscar and the Lady in Pink, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Last Lecture, When Breath Becomes Air, Five Days at Memorial, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Brain on Fire, Fairyland, The Fault in Our Stars, The Still Point of the Turning World, I'll See You Again, Until I Say Good-Bye, The Death Class, and The Violet Hour.
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your career training?
I have three. First, be direct, sympathetic, empathetic, respectful and honest with everyone (staff, patients and parents). Second, good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment. In other words, mistakes are a part of learning and becoming wiser – so, be patient with yourself and others. Third, medicine is a calling, but don't sacrifice your personal/family life for your career as you can never get those personal/family moments back. Life in medicine is definitely a balance, but if something has to give, absolutely let it be your day job, not your family's needs or your personal well-being.
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Erin McIntyre with her dog Cricket |
Erin McIntyre
What brought you to your given specialty/role?
My path to the PCRG was more serendipitous than anything. As a child, I daydreamed of archaeological adventures and writing a book of my own. My later interests in commercial art fell flat, but I soon became passionate about animals and the environment. This led me to an advanced degree in biology and a foot in the door at the Med Center. Seven years ago, I met this great guy named Don (Don Coulter, MD) with an amazing vision, and that was that.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
I would love to explore the Highlands of Scotland again. The region is absolutely breathtaking and so green! But my truly favorite place in the world is in my backyard, under the shade tree where I can appreciate my flower garden and watch my dogs play.
What are you a fan of or very interested in?
Birds and birdwatching, greyhounds, copyediting and writing fantasy fiction. And most importantly, Go Big Red! and SKOL!
Is there any medicine-based book, music or TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others? Or anything outside of the medical world that you recommend?
I read for pleasure nearly every day. I love a good thriller or mystery, but my go-to is anything fantasy. For any epic fantasy lovers out there, I just finished the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. It’s one of the best series I’ve read, having strong characters and amazing world-building. Or… you could read my Red King Trilogy, a young adult fantasy tale.
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your career training?
It’s okay to make mistakes in the laboratory; oftentimes they lead to great discoveries. It’s how we best learn and grow.
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Staff Milestones:
Recent Service Anniversaries
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Congratulations to those celebrating recent work anniversaries. We wish you all the best for continued success! |
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CHRI Seminar Series
Laura Ortmann, MD - "Epinephrine Use in Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation"
Gwen Skar, MD - "Complement in S. Epidermidis CNS Catheter Infection"
September 17, 2021 | Virtual | Noon | Click here for information
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University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
982155 Nebraska Medicine
Omaha, NE 68198-2155
402-559-6400
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