Psychiatry

Wellness/Volunteer Committee stays busy in 2022

Over the past few years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic putting ‘in-person’ gatherings on hold, our department has built an engaged volunteer committee that has participated in numerous fundraisers, mental health awareness events, and volunteering activities.  “We’ve been so fortunate to have a dedicated core group of volunteer committee members, as well as various providers/staff, residents, […]

Sep 8, 2022

SPOTLIGHT: Mallory Eddy

Mallory Eddy, CNA Born and raised in Omaha, Mallory worked as a shift lead and pharmacy tech for three years at Walgreens and then four years in childcare before becoming a CNA in 2020. Mallory said she knew she wanted to work at Nebraska Medicine after the tremendous treatment she received while recovering from a […]

Jul 14, 2022

UNMC Department of Psychiatry sends large contingent to national conference

The 2022 Annual Meeting of the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP) conference took place last month in Austin, Texas. The UNMC Department of Psychiatry brought a large group of faculty, residents, and students.  Generally, a large number of UNMC faculty members (nine in 2022) and students (four) attend the conference […]

Jul 14, 2022

Six physicians receive promotions

The Department of Psychiatry promoted six physicians on July 1, 2022. Alëna Balasanova, MD, FAPA; Marley Doyle, MD; Sheritta Strong, MD, DFAPA, and VaKara Meyer Karre, MD, have been promoted to Associate Professor. Riley Machal, MD, and Erin Ranum, MD, have been promoted to Assistant Professor. Drs. Balasanova, Doyle, Strong, and Meyer Karre have excelled […]

Jul 14, 2022

Liu named Chair of the Council on Communications with the APA

In May 2022, Howard Y. Liu, MD, MBA, was appointed as the new Chair of the Council on Communications at the American Psychiatric Association (APA).    Dr. Liu said the Chair of the Council on Communications leads strategic meetings of the members and staff who are assisting the APA with items related to messaging:  providing […]

Jul 14, 2022

Psychiatry colleagues remember Dan Jacques

On June 3, the UNMC Department of Psychiatry held a virtual memorial to honor IT specialist and longtime colleague Daniel “Dan” Jacques, who died on May 2. Dan worked at UNMC for five decades. Longtime friend and colleague Mark Fleisher, MD, called him “simply irreplaceable.” Dan started at UNMC in April 1972 in research. In 1987, […]

Jun 7, 2022

Spotlight: Zoe Feilner, MPAS, PA-C

Physician Assistant, Adult Zoe was born and raised in Omaha. Before joining the Department of Psychiatry, she worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at UNO Biomechanics Lab for studies on Autism Spectrum Disorder.  She earned a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in PAS from College of Saint Mary. She also worked five years as […]

May 2, 2022

Bull honored with Silver ‘U’

Jennifer Bull was honored with the Silver ‘U’ award for her work as the communication coordinator for the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN). BHECN Director Marley Doyle, MD, nominated Bull and said she played a huge role in BHECN’s success in 2021-22. “Jennifer is an integral part of BHECN,” Dr. Doyle said. “This year, she […]

May 2, 2022

New residents are ready to get started

On March 18, five first-year residents matched with the UNMC Department of Psychiatry. The new interns bring the number of psychiatry residents to 15. The new residents will arrive in June and start rotations in July. George Blankenau, MD; Jacob Givens, MD; and Harrison Greene, MD, matched after graduating from the UNMC College of Medicine. […]

May 2, 2022

Mark Aksamit, MPAS, PA-C, was named NAPA Physician Assistant of the Year

Mark Aksamit, MPAS, PA-C, was named the Nebraska Academy of Physician Assistants (NAPA) Physician Assistant of the Year. While Aksamit, APP Ambulatory Supervisor for the Department of Psychiatry, admitted he didn’t believe he would win the prestigious award, his colleagues thought he was very deserving. He was nominated by Maggie Emerson, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, who […]

May 2, 2022