OMAHA — Nicole Beckman, MD, calls herself a farm girl at heart.
That’s one reason Dr. Beckman, a graduate of the UNMC College of Medicine and part of the Advanced Family Medicine Training Program, plans to become a rural family medicine physician, hopefully somewhere near her hometown of Elgin, Nebraska, when she completes her residency.
Dr. Beckman is part of this year’s class of 253 house officers, the residents and fellows who will be taking the next step of their medical journey at UNMC. She grew up on a farm and as a youth, she pitched in to help her father when needed. Her father had lost his own father to cancer when he was a child, and the impact of that loss made an impression on the future doctor.
“Watching my dad hurt, that was something that stayed with me,” she said. “I decided I wanted to help patients and their families going through hard times.”
Initially, Dr. Beckman was interested in treating cancer – that was the disease that took her grandfather when he was only 49 – but as an undergraduate at Bryan College of Health Sciences in Lincoln, she soon realized how much she loved and missed what she calls “small-town Nebraska.”
And as she shadowed family medicine physicians in places including Albion, Nebraska, another thing became clear: “I loved the relationships the physicians had with their patients, relationships that sometimes went back generations. They get to know them as a whole person, they see them out in the community. I realized that’s what I loved the most about medicine.”
Chandra Are, MBBS, associate dean of graduate medical education, said Dr. Beckman is an example of the commitment and passion of the house officers who have joined UNMC this June. Residency and fellowship are key times in a doctor’s career, he said.
“Our house officers, like Dr. Beckman, arrive at UNMC with clear goals for their careers and the passion and drive to succeed in their efforts,” he said. “It is a privilege to help these fine professionals reach their goals here at UNMC.”
