Erin Ranum, MD, will join the UNMC faculty as an instructor this summer in the growing geriatric division.
“We’re very happy to be joined by Dr. Erin Ranum (on August 17)! She has a longstanding relationship with the geriatric psychiatry division and will bring her enthusiasm and great patient care skills to our group,” said Dr. Steven Wengel, Geriatric Division Director for the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Ranum graduated from UNMC and has spent the previous four years as a resident with the UNMC/Creighton Psychiatry Residency program.
“I’ve always felt at home (at UNMC), more than any other university I attended or did my training,” Dr. Ranum said. “When I started thinking about where I wanted to work after residency, it was an easy decision to stay here.”
Dr. Ranum also holds an undergraduate degree in nursing and worked as a nurse at a nursing home and an aide at an assisted living center.
“I loved working at the assisted living center, and the geriatric population has always been my favorite to work with,” she said. “They tend to be more complex medically. Also, they have different psychosocial stressors than younger adults, such as declining independence with increasing disability and losing social supports as they age due to the death of loved ones. This combination is interesting and challenging to me and makes my work feel meaningful.”
Dr. Ranum said she decided to specialize in psychiatry after her rural family medicine rotation.
“I realized on that rotation that I would rather sit and talk with someone about their depression than any physical complaint. Those patient encounters seemed more meaningful to me.”
Along with working with the geriatric population, Dr. Ranum will work with future doctors as a member of the UNMC faculty. She said she wants to give students and residents meaningful experiences in the field of psychiatry.
Dr. Ranum said she’s excited to remain in Nebraska after her residency ended in July.
“I moved to Omaha for medical school and stayed here for residency, so I’ve been here for eight years. In that time, I got married, had a couple of kids, and bought a house with a yard so I could get a dog. Omaha has become home, so it played a role in my deciding to stay here,” she said.