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Description and Resident Involvement
Department Divisions The Division of Allergy and Immunology provides evaluation and treatment of patients with hypersensitivity states and other immunological diseases. Busy clinics for adults and children are conducted by the Division at the Creighton Medicine Clinic, as well as at the Omaha VAMC and the Offut Air Force Base Hospital. In addition to outpatient care, the Division provides inpatient consultation services. The faculty are very active in research and are internationally known for their work in asthma. They are on the review boards of numerous medical journals. The Division has a two year fellowship in allergy and immunology. Resident Involvement: This popular elective is taken by most third year residents. The residents attend the allergy clinics at all three institutions, where they learn the management of patients with common allergic and immunological diseases as well as the interpretation of immunological testing, including RAST and skin testing, and the principles of desensitization. The residents are also primarily responsible for inpatient consultations.
Cardiology is one of the largest divisions within the Department. Through the freestanding Cardiac Center, located across the street from Saint Joseph Hospital, the Division provides physician evaluation and management of patients with complex cardiovascular disease. Outpatient services include exercise testing, echocardiography (including transesophageal), cardiac catheterization, pacemaker and implantable cardiac defibrillator management, electrophysiology, cardiac rehabilitation and cardiovascular risk reduction. At Saint Joseph Hospital the faculty provides state of the art inpatient cardiovascular care. The Division of Cardiology also has a three year fellowship program. Resident Involvement: Residents in the first and second years are actively involved in the inpatient care of acutely ill cardiac patients. The cardiology inpatients are divided into two teams that are comprised of a faculty member, a cardiology fellow, two or three internal medicine residents and two to four medical students. These teams follow the patients throughout their stay in the hospital and arrange for outpatient follow-up. Most third year residents elect to take a rotation in outpatient cardiology. Here the resident learns outpatient skills, such as exercise treadmill testing, basic echocardiography and the office management of patients with complex cardiac conditions.
This busy Division provides comprehensive care of the skin, hair and nails for adults and children. Outpatient surgery, including laser therapy, is offered at the Creighton Dermatology Clinic and at a satellite clinic in west Omaha. At the Omaha VAMC the Division conducts a busy clinic weekly. The faculty are also actively involved in clinical trail work. In addition to this, the Division provides inpatient consultation services at Saint Joseph Hospital. Resident Involvement: Most senior residents elect to take this extremely practical and popular rotation. There are always medical students who elect to be on this service. Residents attend the clinic daily and are primarily responsible for the inpatient consultation service.
The Endocrine Division is staffed by four faculty. All are Associate Professors or Professors. The Division focuses on teaching, research and clinical care in general endocrinology, osteoporosis, diabetes and pituitary disease. The Division is particularly well known for work in diabetes and osteoporosis. Each member of the Division conducts 1-3 outpatient clinics each week at Saint Joseph Hospital and Omaha VAMC. The clinics provide outpatient care to patients with all endocrine disorders including diabetes, thyroid disease, pituitary disorders, errors of metabolism, and osteoporosis. The Division provides inpatient consultative support at Saint Joseph Hospital and Omaha VAMC. Resident Involvement: All residents rotate through the endocrine service at least once during the second or third years of training. They learn office management of patients with endocrine diseases ranging from common disorders such as diabetes and thyroid disease to less common pituitary, adrenal, parathyroid and gonadal diseases. Residents staff each clinic and are supervised by members of the Endocrine Division. Residents see all inpatient and outpatient consultations and are responsible for their care under the supervision of the faculty.
The Gastroenterology Division provides comprehensive outpatient and inpatient services for patients with the full spectrum of gastrointestinal disease at multiple clinical sites. The faculty conduct busy clinics and provide endoscopy services at three different hospitals in addition to outpatient endoscopy. The Creighton Esophageal Lab, a combined venture of the divisions of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, is internationally known for its work on swallowing disorders. The combined efforts of the divisions of Gastroenterology and Oncology in the screening for hereditary cancer have resulted in now famous publications. Resident Involvement: Residents will rotate through the gastroenterology service twice during their three years. At Saint Joseph Hospital residents are involved in both the primary and consultative care of inpatients. At the Omaha VAMC residents provide inpatient consultative care and also become skilled in flexible sigmoidoscopy. Once they have finished this rotation, residents may bring their own clinic patients to the GI Lab at the Omaha VAMC or Saint Joseph Hospital for outpatient sigmoidoscopy.
This is the largest Division in the Department of Medicine. Faculty provide complete medical care for men and women over the age of 15. In addition to staffing the inpatient services at Saint Joseph Hospital and the Omaha VAMC, the Division is also in charge of the resident continuity clinics at both institutions. A growing segment of their practice involves the care of patients at various satellite clinics throughout Omaha, as well as inpatient care at Bergan Mercy Hospital. Faculty also maintain their own outpatient clinics at the Creighton Medicine Clinic. In the outpatient setting, emphasis is placed on preventive care and risk reduction, as well as the management of chronic medical problems. The extremely busy inpatient service accepts unassigned patients from the ER and also provides referral inpatient care from smaller hospitals in the outlying communities of Nebraska and Iowa. This provides an excellent mix of patients above and beyond those from the Creighton practice. Resident Involvement: The general medicine services are the back bone of the residency program. The inpatient services at the Omaha VAMC and Saint Joseph Hospital are staffed by an attending physician, a second or third year supervisory resident, two first year residents and two to four medical students. Residents also maintain their own continuity clinics at both Creighton and the Omaha VAMC.
The Division of Hematology provides outpatient and inpatient care to patients with both neoplastic and non-neoplastic hematologic disorders. Busy clinics are conducted at the Creighton Medicine Clinic and at the Omaha VAMC. In addition to this the Division provides inpatient care at Saint Joseph Hospital as well as inpatient consultative support at both the Omaha VAMC and at Saint Joseph hospital. Resident Involvement: All third year residents rotate through this Division once. There are always senior medical students who elect to be there too. In addition to caring for the patients in the clinic, the residents spend time daily reviewing peripheral and bone marrow smears. The residents are primarily responsible for the care of inpatients and inpatient consults, under faculty supervision.
This Division provides primarily outpatient and inpatient consultative services. They conduct busy outpatient clinics at the Omaha VAMC and the Creighton Medicine Clinic in addition to independent HIV clinics and a weekly Travelers Clinic for the city of Omaha. Faculty members are very active in research, most notably in the pathogenesis of pneumococcal and gonococcal infections as well as rat models of infection in cirrhotic hosts. The Division also has a two year infectious diseases fellowship in conjunction with the University of Nebraska. Resident Involvement: All residents rotate through this Division during their second or third year. The faculty is well known among the residents for their strong didactic sessions. At Saint Joseph Hospital the residents are responsible for the inpatient consultative service. At the Omaha VAMC residents provide inpatient consultative services and are active in the outpatient clinics too. All residents participate in the Travelers Clinic. At both institutions residents spend time in the microbiology lab daily reviewing interesting cases.
This extremely busy Division provides comprehensive care for patients with acute and chronic renal diseases. They also provide consultative services for patients with fluid and electrolyte disorders and difficult hypertension problems. The faculty serves a large population of patients with end-stage renal disease and have a large outpatient dialysis service. At Saint Joseph Hospital and Bergan Mercy Hospital, the Division maintains a large inpatient service and also provides consultative services. At the Omaha VAMC, the Division provides consultative services, helps staff the Critical Care Unit and conducts very busy outpatient clinics. The faculty shares responsibility for the management of renal transplant patients. Resident Involvement: Though this rotation is very busy, it remains extremely popular with the residents. Each resident rotates through the Division twice. During their first year, residents are assigned to the inpatient service at Saint Joseph Hospital. Second year residents will rotate through the service again at either Saint Joseph Hospital or the Omaha VAMC. The rotation is also popular with senior medical students who elect to be on the service. The Division of Nephrology has frequently received the annual award for excellence in teaching from the residents.
The Creighton Cancer Center first rose to international prominence in the late 1960s when Dr. Henry Lynch described family clusters of cancer patients. Since then the "Lynch Syndromes" have been extensively characterized and in recent years the genetic basis of these findings has been unraveled. The faculty of the Creighton Cancer Center continue to be active in both bench research as well as clinical trials for cancer therapy. Clinical trials are funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute. The Division maintains a busy practice at Saint Joseph Hospital involving both inpatient and outpatient care, and they conduct a large clinic at the Omaha VAMC in addition to providing inpatient consultative support. The Creighton Hereditary Cancer Prevention Center is quickly gaining prominence, too. Resident Involvement: All residents rotate through this division at least once during the second or third year of their residency. At Saint Joseph Hospital the team consists of an attending physician and two residents. This team also provides consultative support to the Omaha VAMC and conducts the Oncology Clinic there.
The Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine provides comprehensive care for critically ill patients, as well as those with a full spectrum of pulmonary disorders. At Saint Joseph Hospital the faculty conduct busy outpatient clinics in addition to supervising the Respiratory Care Department of the Hospital and managing the pulmonary function lab. They also manage a busy inpatient service and provide consultative support to other services. The Division co-administers the Sleep Lab with the Department of Neurology. At the Omaha VAMC the faculty staff the inpatient consultative service and staff the Critical Care Unit, along with physicians from the Creighton Division of Nephrology and Critical Care physicians from the University of Nebraska. Research interests of the faculty include long-term oxygen therapy and COPD management. The Division also has a two-year fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine. Resident Involvement: This rotation remains one of the most popular months with the residents. Most of the residents will rotate through the Pulmonary Division as a first year resident and all residents rotate through during their second or third year. The service at Saint Joseph Hospital is staffed by an attending physician, one pulmonary fellow, two residents and three to four senior students. At the Omaha VAMC the service is managed primarily by the senior resident, under the supervision of a pulmonary fellow and an attending physician. At the Omaha VAMC the residents learn how to interpret pulmonary function tests, under faculty supervision. The Pulmonary Division has received the award for excellence in resident education more than any other division in the Department of Medicine.
The faculty of the Division of Rheumatology provide comprehensive evaluation and management of patients with the full spectrum of inflammatory disease ranging from osteoarthritis to the more complex patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and the various vasculitides. They conduct busy clinics at the Creighton Medicine Clinic daily. In addition to this they maintain their own inpatient service and provide consultative support to other medical and surgical services at Saint Joseph Hospital. At the Omaha VAMC they conduct a large outpatient clinic and provide inpatient consultations. Resident Involvement: All residents rotate through this Division during their second or third year. Residents see patients in clinic and learn about the outpatient management of patients with rheumatologic disease. Residents become skilled at joint aspiration and injection under faculty supervision. At the Omaha VAMC and at Saint Joseph Hospital the residents see inpatients and learn about the management of the more seriously ill patient. This rotation is also extremely popular with the medical students and most senior students elect to rotate through the division.
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