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Public Relations  >  News Center  >  Quick Facts  >  School of Medicine

• Overview
• Students
• Student Service
• Faculty/Physicians
• School of Medicine Points of Pride
• School of Medicine Program Highlights
• 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 265 with a student enrollment at about 525.

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

The Hixson-Lied Science Building and Criss Health Science Buildings are at the center 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 expands 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. Students will be exposed to additional complimentary areas of clinical excellence and collaborative research opportunities.

On September 1, 2012 the Creighton-Alegent Strategic Affiliation expands the teaching affiliation between Creighton University and Alegent Health. Alegent’s network of healthcare facilities become the primary teaching sites for the School of Medicine as well as the other health sciences schools. Creighton University is responsible for the education component, enhancing both the academic experience for students and healthcare in the greater Omaha community.

• In 2012, there were 6,206 first-year applicants to the School of Medicine for 152 first-year seats.
• Nearly 13 percent of Creighton’s 2011-12 medical students are minorities.
• Creighton matched 97 percent of its 2012 graduating medical students with their specialties of choice.
• Creighton medical graduates are offered residency training at excellent medical centers from coast to coast. These prestigious institutions include Mayo Clinic, Duke University, Yale University, Northwestern and Dartmouth University. They select Creighton medical school graduates for reasons that include Creighton’s comprehensive clinical training, rigorous academics, excellent student performance, outstanding student support and mentoring systems and the University’s national reputation for excellence.
• The admission process to the Creighton University School of Medicine includes input faculty and alumni of the school.
• A P-Med program that builds relationships between pre-medical advisors and undergraduate students and helps students navigate the medical admissions system.
• Creighton consistently ranks above the national average in graduate satisfaction. In a recent survey, nearly 95 percent of 2011 graduates said they were pleased with the quality of their medical education.

• The School of Medicine promotes service among its students and 100 percent of them voluntarily participate in community service activities.
• Creighton students founded and run the Magis Clinic, a free clinic for uninsured and underinsured people that is staffed by volunteer physicians.
• Eight medical school students spend Spring Break in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, teaching Red Cloud children about science, medicine, and health.
• The anesthesia department takes two students each year to the Dominican Republic to assist with hernia repairs in the underserved community.

• Robert "Bo" Dunlay, M. D., serves as interm dean of the School of Medicine effective January 2013.
• Creighton University 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 recognized experts in minimally invasive general surgery, esophageal and digestive disorder surgery, cardiac care, surgical oncology, neurosurgical procedures, peritoneal neoplastic diseases, hereditary cancer, osteoporosis and trauma.

• 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 free clinic, founded and run by Creighton medical students, with the assistance of physician volunteers, provides health care for the uninsured and underinsured.
• 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.
• The School of Medicine was selected in 2006 to participate in an Innovative Strategies for Transforming the Education of Physicians (ISTEP) project sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA). 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, which participate in the AMA research.
• The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) renewed the accreditation of the educational program leading to the MD degree at Creighton University School of Medicine for an eight-year term in February 2012.
• Creighton University School of Medicine is the sponsoring institution for 15 postgraduate medical education residency and fellowship programs. There are 224 house staff participating in the training programs and 111 house staff in the Affiliated/Combined Programs. On July 1, 2012, the institution and programs began preparations for the “new accreditation system.”
• The School of Medicine is working with the Association of American Medical Colleges Joining Forces Initiative to address the unique health and wellness challenges of our nation’s service members, veteran, and their families.
• A travel clinic has been established where patients can receive all of their travel immunizations and prescriptions for travel abroad.
• There are 10 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, Vacant.
  • 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, held by 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, Vacant
  • The August H. Bergman, M. D., Endowed Chair in Cardiology, held by Aryan N. Mooss, M. D.

• The Department of Surgery includes nine divisions and is home to many skilled surgeons who are recognized for their expertise in such areas as minimally invasive general surgery techniques, esophageal and digestive system procedures, trauma and critical care, neurosurgical techniques such as skull-base surgery and minimally invasive spine surgery, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, peritoneal neoplasm surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, urological surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction.
• Creighton’s Clinical Diabetes program is certified by the American Diabetes Association for its diabetes education services. The program offers one-stop care for diabetes prevention, diagnosis, treatment, education and nutritional and drug counseling.
• The pathology department has established Creighton Medical Laboratories, a full service anatomic and clinical pathology reference laboratory offering an extensive test menu and performing about 800,000 tests annually.
• The neurology department developed the Creighton Epilepsy Center, a member institution of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers and considered one of the most advanced centers in the region. The center has an inpatient video-EEG monitoring unit and a comprehensive epilepsy surgery program. The neurology department also developed a comprehensive stroke program.
• The Creighton University Rural Psychiatry and Telehealth Initiative brought a team of faculty and resident psychiatrists to Columbus, Nebraska, to provide services to rural patients. The medical residents participating in the program have now delivered more than 200 hours of psychiatric care to rural Nebraskans.
• The Creighton Department of Psychiatry jointly administers the unique Creighton-Nebraska Psychiatry Residency Training Program with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Creighton faculty members also provide inpatient care for children, adolescents and adults at Immanuel Medical Center; inpatient and outpatient consultation services at Creighton University Medical Center and the Omaha Veteran’s Administration Medical Center; and inpatient treatment at Lasting Hope Recovery Center.
• The anesthesia department has expanded the Chronic Pain Clinic to include anesthesiologists who work exclusively in chronic pain.

• Creighton has a long and rich history of groundbreaking research that makes a difference in people’s lives. Research is essential to learning about the underlying mechanisms of disease and new ways to prevent and treat disease.
• In fiscal year 2010-2011, Creighton medical researchers attracted more than $25.2 million in external grant funding.
• Researchers in the School of Medicine departments of biomedical sciences, medical microbiology and immunology, and pharmacology are making discoveries in the areas of atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, bacterial antibiotic 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.
• 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 with opportunities for inter-disciplinary collaboration, interaction, and development of team research projects.
• The School of Medicine is an international leader in research regarding major debilitating diseases such as hereditary cancer and osteoporosis. Other areas of research excellence include mechanisms of infectious agents, inflammation and cardiovascular disease, molecular carcinogenesis, asthma and respiratory disease, and novel treatments of neurologic and neurodegenerative disease. An exciting new generation of research projects is underway.
• A groundbreaking study conducted at Creighton University suggests that most people do not get enough vitamin D, a fact that may put them at significant risk for developing cancer. The research suggests that boosting vitamin D3 supplement intake, in conjunction with adequate calcium consumption, can significantly reduce one’s risk of breast and other cancers.

• The Osteoporosis Research Center has been recognized for decades as one of the top bone research and clinical treatment centers in the world. The center has played a pivotal role in the identification of osteoporosis as a serious health threat, particularly to postmenopausal women, and in the development of current standards for osteoporosis screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
• The Cardiac Center of Creighton University, founded in 1961, employs more than 230 full- and part-time employees, including 17 cardiologists and 12 physician fellows. The 60,000-square-foot center is the only free-standing facility of its kind in Omaha dedicated solely to cardiovascular care, teaching and research. The center recently opened a new electrophysiology lab, which includes a state-of-the-art, cardiovascular-imaging system that provides advanced imaging with lower radiation doses for patients
• The Center for Research in Anti-Infectives and Biotechnology looks at the 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 drug combinations to treat resistant bacteria.
• The Hereditary Cancer Center was formally established in 1984, although Creighton’s groundbreaking research in this area began in the 1960s. The center 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.
  
  Over the years, work at the center has evolved due to advances in molecular genetics. Germ-line mutations have been found in countless cancer-prone families with particular emphasis on hereditary breast-ovarian-cancer syndrome; familial typical multiple mole melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome in association with pancreatic cancer; and 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 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 the hospital. 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.