Pediatric News
Updates from the Department of Pediatrics - 2023 Vol. 2
Dr. Russell McCulloh Named UNMC Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research
Married to Medicine Event Group Formed to Offer Relationship Support
Medicine is a demanding career choice that requires a great commitment of time, energy and focus. For that reason, it can place great strains on relationships. The divorce rate among medical doctors is nearly 25%. Recently Married to Medicine, a group for Department of Pediatrics, Department of Internal Medicine and Internal Medicine Pediatrics (med-peds) residents, was formed to give early-career physicians the opportunity to hear from faculty members on how to build and maintain relationships despite the stressors of a life in medicine.
 
The formation of the group was the idea of Samantha Rohe, MD, associate professor, Division of General Pediatrics and assistant program director for the Pediatric Residency program, who had experience with similar groups while a medical student at Creighton University School of Medicine and a resident at St. Louis University/SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. Dr Rohe shared her concept with Alexis Malaterre, MD, second-year pediatrics resident, and Lindsey Beard, MD, second year med-peds resident. Drs. Beard and Malaterre took the idea and ran with it, coordinating the first event in late January.
 
At the first meeting, a panel of three couples – a male physician married to a non-physician, a female physician married to a non-physician and two physicians married to one another – provided firsthand experience on the joys and struggles of making their relationship work. Dr. Beard said, “It was powerful to hear from people how they have lived through what we are experiencing now and to have a sense of the load that we put on our non-medical spouse as we navigate this demanding season of our lives.” Dr. Malaterre added, “It’s sometimes easier to see the other side of what a non-medical partner is going through when you hear their concerns echoed by others in our group. The advantage of doctors married to doctors is that they have a better insight into what one another are going through.”
 
The organizers were surprised and excited about the enthusiasm from other residents and faculty members about the formation of the group. Dr. Rohe says, “We immediately had doctors offering to sit on the panel for our events. People were really generous and candid about lessons they had learned over the course of their relationship.” The greatest challenge for planning the event was, unsurprisingly, scheduling a time when many very, very busy people would be available to attend. To make the meetings more broadly available, the group plans to vary times and places to accommodate different schedules.
 
While the theme of the first meeting was relationship management, the proposed subject for the next event in April will be children. A third event is tentatively planned for June or July and will focus on finances. The organizers have already heard from representatives from other residency programs about joining the group. Currently, the organizers plan to finish the academic year offering the group to the original three residency programs. However, an expansion could take place in the future.
 
Anyone interested in getting more information about group is invited to email Drs. Rohe, Beard and Malaterre.
Sydnie Carraher Graduates Leadership Nebraska Program
Thirty Nebraska leaders were recognized with certificates and commemorative awards for completing Class XIV of Leadership Nebraska at a commencement ceremony held Thursday, Feb. 9, in Lincoln, Neb. Among them was Sydnie Carraher, DNP, APRN-NP, NNP-BC, program administrator, Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPQIC). NPQIC is a an organization supported by the Department of Pediatrics that seeks to improve the delivery of and access to evidence-based and equitable health care for all Nebraska mothers and newborns.

Carraher was chosen for the program as a current and emerging leader in the state of Nebraska. The Leadership Nebraska program is designed to enhance leadership skills and deepen knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing the state. Leadership Nebraska is dedicated to the development of informed leaders who understand issues, define problems, develop solutions and achieve positions of higher responsibility in Nebraska.

Congratulations to Sydnie Carraher for completing this prestigious program!
Dr. Brenton Bussinger Named House Officer of the Month for December
Congratulations to Brenton Bussinger, MD, for being named December House Officer of the Month. Dr. Bussinger is a first-year pediatric resident. He recently received the following praise:
 
"Brent frequently asks the nurses how the patient is doing, provides open communication with the nurses and stays open to suggestions. He is a great advocate for the patients as well."
 
"Brent is absolutely amazing at talking with families and does a great job prepping and teaching students! I had a great time working with him!"
 
Great work Dr. Bussinger!
Dr. Serenity Bashford Named House Officer of the Month for January
Congratulations to Serenity Bashford, MD, for being named January House Officer of the Month. Dr. Bashford is a second year pediatric resident. Dr. Bashford recently received the following praise:

“Serenity was a calm, helpful leader. She did a great job with a child having a behavioral emergency.”

Great work Dr. Bashford!
Joe Sibilia Awarded a Silver 'U'
Congratulations to Joe Sibilia, MBA, academic division administrator, who was recently awarded the Silver 'U'. Steph Montgomery, administrative associate to Dr. Kari Simonsen, wrote in her nomination, "Joe has been integral in implementing changes in processes. He has most recently had a helping hand in faculty evaluations for the upcoming year. His thoughts and ideas will help us to streamline the process and cut down on emails to all of the faculty, which I am sure that they would be very thankful for."
 
She continues, "He recently helped with implementing a policy for the Department of Peds
office associates to assure there is proper coverage when anyone is gone. Through every step of making the policy, he communicated with the office associate staff to make sure that everyone was on the same page. Very thankful that he took everyone's opinion into consideration, and everyone felt heard."
 
Keep up the good work, Joe!
DEI Update:
Upcoming Events
Click here for a list of activities planned for Black History Month by UNMC and Children's Hospital & Medical Center.
Save the Date: May 19
Department of Pediatrics Antiracism Committee
2023 DEI Conference - Indigenous Health
The Department of Pediatrics invites you to its third annual DEI Conference on May 19. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend. Event details and attendance information to come.
Upcoming Events
You’re Invited!
Educators' Track In-person Event
The Department of Pediatrics invites you to join the third in-person meeting of our Educators' Track! This program is designed to support faculty who have an interest in education through a combination of programing and formal mentorship. The overarching goal of this group is to promote involvement in educational activities, support our varied educational programs and help faculty receive recognition for their efforts.
 
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 16 at 11:45 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. at the Indian Hills East - 1st Floor Conference Room at Children's Hospital & Medical Center.
 
Lunch will be provided. All attendees are welcome, even if you can’t arrive at 11:45.
 
Please email Dani Baxter at dwilsonb@unmc.edu to RSVP! 
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Winter Writers Retreat
CHRI Pediatric Academic Workshop
Friday, March 10, 2023 - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What’s Your Story?

The Child Health Research Institute invites you to its Pediatric Academic Workshop Winter Writers Retreat. This all-day event will offer three tracks: academic writing, creative narrative and promotion and tenure. The retreat will include dedicated time for you to work on your current writing project, with the benefit of on-hand writing experts and peer reviewers. Writing time will be complemented with dynamic speakers on different facets of storytelling. 
Five Questions
This month we feature Lindsay Blick, MD, assistant professor, Division of Critical Care, and Tabetha VanderWoude, Educational Program Coordinator II and Global Health Track Coordinator.
Meet Dr. Blick
 
What brought you to your given specialty/role? 

I decided on medicine as a career after my brother passed away from cancer when I was nine. For a long time, the plan was pediatric oncology. However, once I entered residency, I felt called to the ICU. The ability to care for and support families and patients at their most difficult moments is what makes me feel most fulfilled.
  
What’s your favorite place in the world? 

This is a hard one, as I enjoy escaping into nature quite a bit. However, I do not think I could get by for long without time to relax with my cat on my lap so anywhere I can do that has to be top of the list.
  
What are you a fan of or very interested in? 
 
Music theater  
  
Is there any book, music or TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others?

When Breath Becomes Air. It is written by a neurosurgeon as he battled and died from cancer. The lessons he learns through the book, to celebrate life in all its forms, is something we should all incorporate into our own lives and careers in medicine.
  
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your medical training?

Honestly, my most important lesson came before medical training. My experience with my brother, and hearing from my parents their experience of his illness, brought lessons that are difficult to learn and teach in medical training. Through it I learned: not everything can be fixed in medicine, that sometimes the most important thing we can provide is comfort at the end of life, that medical mistakes happen and to listen to our patient’s families as they can help prevent them and finally, that it can mean an extraordinary amount to families to know the impact that their family member had on the physician and medical team.
Meet Tabetha VanderWoude
 
What brought you to your given specialty/role? 
 
This is going to sound somewhat strange, but I have always been interested in healthcare, specifically for children. I attended Iowa State and worked toward a degree in Community & Public Health, with a minor in Child, Adult and Family Services. However, as I earned my degree and worked in various settings, I realized that I enjoyed the “behind-the-scenes” aspects more than direct patient interactions. I found joy and a sense of accomplishment, not from praise, complements, etc. from the patients and families I worked with, but from seeing a program I helped design, implement and support succeed and actually help people, even if I didn’t receive specific recognition for it. I believe the role I am in now does exactly that – I am behind the scenes (I haven’t even directly met most of the residents in the program!), but I know what I do makes a difference in helping them on their journey to becoming amazing pediatric doctors!
  
What’s your favorite place in the world? 
 
I don’t have a specific favorite place, but I love the beach/ocean. I love just sitting on the beach and relaxing, listening to the sound of the waves. It is the best stress relief, not only because of the soothing sound, but also because the sheer vastness of the ocean reminds me how small most of my worries really are in comparison!
  
What are you a fan of or very interested in? 
 
I love sports – I am an Oklahoma Sooners NCAA fan, LA Rams NFL fan, and a Golden State Warriors NBA fan and love to cheer all of them on! However, I am a bigger fan of my daughters – they will be 7 and 3 soon and they are involved in a bunch of activities (7 yo does All-Star Cheer, tumbling, dance, and volleyball and 3 yo does dance and tumbling) and I absolutely LOVE watching them learn, grow, and develop new skills in their activities! I am their biggest fan and will always cheer them on in whatever they choose to do! 😊
  
Is there any book, music or TV series or movie that you admire and would recommend to others, particularly if it relates to the medical world?
 
Well, with 2 young kids, I pretty much just get to watch animated things – Bluey is pretty good, but if you want medical, you should go with Doc McStuffins! Oh and Usborne Books has a good book called “All Better” that teaches kids to take care of boo-boos, haha!
  
What was the most important lesson taught to you during your career training? 
 
Always be open-minded and kind! You will work with all kinds of people at various stages in your life and theirs. You never know what someone went through to get to where they are or what they might be currently going through, so be open-minded to learning new things from others and always be kind because it could make someone’s day just a little better.
Staff Milestones:
Recent Service Anniversaries
Congratulations to those celebrating recent work anniversaries. We wish you all the best for continued success!
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
982155 Nebraska Medicine
Omaha, NE 68198-2155
402-955-3933