Matthew Egbert, MD, will retire on June 30, 2025, after more than 30 years in the UNMC Department of Psychiatry.
When Dr. Egbert started his residency, he didn’t envision a long career in psychiatry. Before realizing that psychiatry was a good fit, he tried anesthesia and internal medicine.
“During medical school, my favorite rotation was in psychiatry. I talked with my department chair and (Psychiatry Department Chair) Dr. Menolascino to discuss switching programs,” Dr. Egbert said. “They both graciously agreed to allow me to switch programs.”
Dr. Egbert stayed at UNMC after being offered a faculty position. On March 1, 1994, he started as an adult psychiatrist and instructor.
“Making a transition that quickly with no time off in between is a shock to the system for everyone,” Dr. Egbert said. “They had expected me to take some time off, so they hadn’t gotten me hospital privileges. My resident had to write the orders for a couple of days.”
During his thirty-plus years as a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Egbert did a lot of fantastic work on and off campus. With current PES clinic manager Jennifer Sparrock, he started a partial hospital program at St. Joseph’s Center for Mental Health. At UNMC, Dr. Egbert was the medical director of the Adult Crisis Unit (ACU) and ECT Program Director from 2003-2019. Additionally, Dr. Egbert was Division Director of Inpatient Services for the Department of Psychiatry from 2015-2019. In 2020, Dr. Egbert started treating patients in the Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) unit.
Steven Wengel, MD, was Dr. Egbert’s chair from 2004 to 2018. Dr. Wengel said Dr. Egbert was a stalwart fixture in the department.
“He served our patients admirably in many roles over these years, especially in the hospital setting, and has trained countless medical students and residents,” Dr. Wengel said. “Without exaggeration of any kind, I can say that he has done truly lifesaving work in the latter part of his career here, running our prior inpatient service and instilling hope in patients who are having a mental health crisis. We owe him a debt of gratitude. And on a personal level, I will miss him but wish him the best and hope that he can now look back on a long career of helping some of our most vulnerable citizens in their time of need.”
As he retires, Dr. Egbert sees psychiatry growing with improved treatment options.
“I think that there will be a resurgence in psychotherapy as an integral part of psychiatric practice as we are able to quantify the effects better and perform better research. I also think we will see more somatic therapies that will be effective for treating treatment-resistant disorders. I would also like to see many of these therapies used as first-line treatments.”
In retirement, Dr. Egbert plans to keep busy.
“I plan to do some traveling as we are able. I will spend more time gardening and preserving my harvest. Working with dirt and plants is always nice and producing something useful and beautiful is wonderful. I also plan to pick some hobbies back up. I really want to get back to doing some sculptural welding and blacksmithing. I plan to forge chef’s knives and some other types of blades as well. This is still relatively new for me, so it will take some time to develop a good level of skill.”
I appreciate the many contributions that Dr. Egbert made to our department and to his thousands of patients over the course of a 30-year career. On behalf of the department of psychiatry, we wish Matt well in his future adventures!
Dr. Egbert, this is an exciting rite of passage for you and your family! Congratulations! You are one of the reasons that I chose Psychiatry. I was one of the students on your service when Richard Young closed in 2003, and it was an incredible experience. Please keep in touch!
What a gift to be able to start our careers in the mental health field together and to be working together again as you launch into your next chapter. So many great memories over the years. Wishing you all of the best!