Matthew Kelly, MD, has been named Lasting Hope Recovery Center’s BHECN Resident of the Year for 2021.
Dr. Kelly is a second-year resident with the UNMC Department of Psychiatry. He said he was humbled and appreciative to be recognized with this honor.
“I’m especially grateful to be recognized by such knowledgeable faculty at Lasting Hope, whom I respect greatly,” he said. “My time at Lasting Hope gave me an opportunity to care for and learn from some of our community’s most ill patients under the supervision of some of the most experienced psychiatrists in the state. In addition, I was able to see in real life what I had read about in books and articles, providing me an invaluable educational experience.”
Dr. Kelly began his UNMC psychiatry residency in June 2020. During his second year, he has been able to rotate through some of the subspecialty clinics at UNMC, giving him a more in-depth understanding of specific patient populations like geriatrics and addiction.
“My second year of residency is flying by,” he said. “I have been able to rotate through some of the subspecialty clinics. I have learned so much, but if I had to take away a single lesson from this year so far, it would be that there is always more to patients than their symptoms alone. Symptoms do not occur in a vacuum, and unless I understand a person’s life narrative and the sociocultural influences that impact him or her, I cannot provide the best care possible. I have really taken that to heart.”
Nominees for the Lasting Hope Recovery Center BHECN Resident of the Year Award are selected by Lasting Hope Recovery Center doctors. Each nominee exhibits excellence in clinical skills and abilities, fosters an environment of teamwork and communication, seeks and provides mentoring opportunities, responsiveness, and collaboration in patient care, and puts the patients’ interests first. The Lasting Hope Recovery Center staff votes to select the Resident of the Year from the list of nominees. Each candidate will receive a certificate, gift card, and gourmet cupcakes from Omaha Cupcake to celebrate this honor. In addition, the Resident of the Year will receive an additional gift card and a crystal award.
BHECN, Behavioral Health Education Centers of Nebraska, recruits and educates students in behavioral health fields and trains and retains professionals already in the workforce.