Creighton University

• Overview
• Students
• Continuing Medical Education
• Faculty/Physicians
• Clinical Services
• Research
• Centers of Excellence

In the Jesuit, Catholic tradition of Creighton University, the mission of the School of Medicine is to improve the human condition through excellence in educating students, physicians and the public; advancing knowledge; and providing comprehensive patient care.

The school, established in 1892, boasts a full-time faculty of 278 with a student enrollment for the 2009-2010 academic year of 495.

As an academic medical center, Creighton is committed to providing excellent medical care. It also is dedicated to preparing tomorrow's health professionals for the medical challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in patient care, teaching and research.

Creighton University has a national reputation for quality patient care and a large number of faculty and research programs with international reputations.

The Hixson-Lied Science Building and Criss Health Science Buildings are the centerpieces of a major initiative to provide Creighton undergraduates and health professionals with science facilities that encourage discovery, teaching, research, leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Creighton University School of Medicine and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz. announced an academic affiliation in June 2009 that creates a Creighton medical school presence in Phoenix. The affiliation will expand educational opportunities available to Creighton medical students while allowing the University’s School of Medicine to recruit more students giving them access to a Catholic –based medical education, beginning with the 2010 first-year class. . Students will be exposed to additional complimentary areas of clinical excellence and collaborative research opportunities.

• There were 5,455 applicants to the School of Medicine for 126 seats for the 2009-2010 academic year.
• About 20 percent of the medical students enrolled were minorities.
• Creighton matches 97 percent of its students into their specialty of choice.
• Creighton students founded and run the Magis Medical Clinic, a free clinic for uninsured and underinsured people that is staffed by volunteer physicians.
• Creighton University medical graduates are offered residency training at excellent medical centers from coast to coast. In addition to Creighton, institutions from Stanford to Mayo to Massachusetts General select Creighton graduates, for reasons that include Creighton’s comprehensive clinical training, rigorous academics, excellent student performance, outstanding student support and mentoring systems, and Creighton University’s national reputation.
• Creighton graduates’ medical licensing scores and pass rates exceed the national average. Our graduates practice in all 50 states.
• Creighton consistently ranks above the national average in graduate satisfaction. In a recent survey, 100 percent of our 2008 graduates said they were pleased with the quality of their medical education.

• The Continuing Medical Education (CME) Division offered 69 courses and 27 Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS) in 2008-2009. Course attendance totaled 5,710, and RSS attendance totaled 16,250. The total attendance for CME activities was 21,960. The CME Division works closely with all departments/divisions within the School of Medicine, as well as areas throughout the University and organizations throughout the United States, to oversee the courses and to assure all activities meet the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA).

• Rowen K. Zetterman, M. D., serves as dean of the School of Medicine.
• Creighton University Medical Center offers medical students a diverse medical community. Students train with hundreds of the region’s most accomplished health professionals.
• Creighton faculty pride themselves on being teachers first and foremost. The accrediting authority for U. S. and Canadian doctor of medicine programs has described Creighton faculty as “enthusiastic about teaching…the extraordinary availability of the faculty and administrative staff strongly supports the learning environment.”
• Creighton University physicians are locally, nationally and internationally recognized experts in minimally invasive surgery, bariatrics, esophageal surgery, cardiac care, hernia repair, surgical oncology, peritoneal neoplastic diseases, hereditary cancer, osteoporosis, and trauma.
• Creighton Medical Associates (CMA) is the multispecialty faculty group supporting the clinical and academic missions of Creighton University School of Medicine. Organized in 1994, CMA has 228 physicians and midlevel providers representing 36 specialties. As a division of the School of Medicine, CMA serves more than 100,000 patients annually at the Creighton University Medical Center campus, community-based clinics in the Omaha metropolitan area, and rural outreach clinics in Iowa and Nebraska.
• There are ten endowed chairs in the School:
  • The Peekie Nash Carpenter Endowed Chair in Medicine, held by Devendra Agrawal, Ph.D.
  • The Dr. Harry E. Stuckenhoff Endowed Chair in Surgery, held by Robert J. Fitzgibbons, Jr., M.D.
  • The Dr. Roland L. Kleeberger Endowed Chair, vacant
  • The Tenet Healthcare Endowed Chair in Healthcare Efficacy, held by Eugene C. Rich, M.D.
  • The Dr. Harold J. Bonnstetter Endowed Chair in Preventive Medicine, held by Brian Loggie, M.D.
  • The Dr. Arnold W. Lempka Endowed Chair in Surgery, held by Jeffrey Sugimoto, M.D.
  • The Charles F. and Mary C. Heider Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, Henry T. Lynch, M.D.
  • The Sheila and Dr. James J. Shea Family Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology, held by James L. Manion, M.D.
  • The Dr. Paul S. Mahoney Endowed Chair in Radiology and Medical Imaging, held byMartin L. Goldman, M. D.
  • The August H. Bergman, M. D., Endowed Chair in Cardiology, held by Aryan N. Mooss, M.D.

• The Cardiac Center has initiated new clinical services in drug therapy (e.g., Natrecor infusions for heart-failure patients) and therapeutic interventions (e.g., carotid stenting to prevent stroke).
• Creighton’s Nutrition, Metabolism, and Related Chronic Diseases Program focuses on the growing problem of obesity and the maintenance of long-term health. Creighton’s clinical and research programs aim to enhance health in relation to diet, digestion, excretion, and metabolism; and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions and problems associated with hormone, digestive system, kidney and liver function.
• The popular and expanding Clinical Diabetes Program recently earned certification from the American Diabetes Association for its diabetes education services.
• Creighton University was the first Catholic higher education institution to receive the prestigious Community Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for its work in the Magis Clinic. This clinic, founded and run by students, is a free clinic for uninsured and underinsured people, staffed by volunteer physicians.
• Creighton University School of Medicine was named a national Center of Excellence for Physician Information for the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2007. These centers serve as national models for educating future physicians about drug abuse and addiction so they can better identify, prevent and treat patients at risk.
• Creighton University School of Medicine was selected in 2006 to participate in the Innovative Strategies for Transforming the Education of Physicians (ISTEP) project sponsored by the American Medical Association. ISTEP is a unique medical education research collaborative that brings together individuals and institutions from across the continuum of physician learning. Creighton is one of 16 research teams, representing 27 medical schools, participating in the AMA research.
• New clinical facilities in west Omaha provide greater access to key programs such as cardiology, dermatology, nephrology and rheumatology. Efforts are also underway to expand services in the downtown Omaha area with the expansion of the clinic in the Old Market and larger facilities in the Dundee area.
• Several new faculty members have been recruited in highly sought-after areas such as pulmonary critical care, nephrology, gastroenterology, cardiology, hematology-oncology, general internal medicine, and medicine-pediatrics. These physicians are incorporating a variety of new techniques that strengthen our clinical services, such as endoscopic ultrasound and advanced care in sleep medicine.

• The School of Medicine is an international leader in research regarding major debilitating diseases including hereditary cancer and osteoporosis. The school’s strategic plan includes developing comparable leading programs in infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, nutrition and metabolism, and neuroscience. An exciting new generation of research projects is under way.
• Researchers in the School of Medicine departments of biomedical sciences, medical microbiology and immunology, and pharmacology are making discoveries in the areas of atherosclerosis, bacterial resistance, cancer, hearing restoration, brain injury and conditions that affect bone growth and bone loss. They also are increasing our knowledge of potential therapeutic targets to facilitate drug discovery.
• In fiscal year 2008-09, Creighton medical researchers attracted $36 million in external grant funding.
• Research grants have supplied Creighton University with the resources for the creation and expansion of state-of-the art core facilities in confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, genomics, morphology and proteomics. These and other shared facilities provide University biomedical researchers opportunities for inter-disciplinary collaboration, interaction, and development of team research projects utilizing state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The facilities are designed to allow the free flow of information and collaborative work environments.
• A landmark study conducted at Creighton University suggests that most people do not take enough vitamin D, a fact that may put them at significant risk for developing cancer. The research shows that boosting your vitamin D3 intake can significantly reduce your risk of breast and other cancers.

• The Cancer Center is an innovator in three major areas of cancer: peritoneal neoplastic diseases; breast cancer, offering same-day diagnostic breast care services; and skin cancer and melanoma. Additionally, the Cancer Center treats a variety of solid organ tumors, such as colon, pancreas and appendix.
• The Osteoporosis Research Center is a 40-year effort that has resulted in an international center of excellence in bone research. This team carries out basic science research, which is laboratory-based; clinical research involving volunteer participants; patient care including state-of-the-art evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment; and referral services physicians.
• The focus of the Center for Research in Anti-Infectives and Biotechnology (CRAB) is on many aspects of antimicrobial chemotherapy, ranging from drug discovery to the molecular mechanisms of antibacterial resistance among bacteria; antibacterial resistance in the clinical laboratory; and new drugs and novel drug combinations to treat resistant bacteria.
• The Hereditary Cancer Center (HCC) was formerly established in 1984 with the primary objective of conducting comprehensive research projects dealing with cancer of all anatomic sites. It is devoted to cancer prevention resulting from hereditary-cancer syndromes, with particular attention given to surveillance and management programs melded to the natural history of these particular disorders.
• The Hereditary Cancer Center’s commitment has evolved significantly into the molecular genetic age. Germ-line mutations have been found in countless cancer-prone kindreds with particular emphasis on hereditary breast-ovarian-cancer syndrome; the familial typical multiple mole melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome in association with pancreatic cancer; and the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) syndromes, also referred to as the Lynch Syndrome (named after Henry Lynch, M.D., HCC director). Lynch developed what are now regarded as the cardinal principles of cancer genetics: early age of onset of the disease, specific pattern of multiple primary cancers, and Mendelian patterns of inheritance in hundreds of extended families worldwide.
• The Center for Digestive Disorders is a convenient point of access to the full range of digestive health care services offered within CUMC. The Center combines inpatient and outpatient programs, state-of-the-art technology, clinical expertise and internationally recognized specialty programs in areas such as esophageal disorders and abdominal wall reconstruction.