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University of Nevada School of Medicine to increase its residency program by 25 percent

Date:

SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE

Additional training positions at UMC and Renown potentially means more physicians for Nevada

Working with partner hospitals University Medical Center of Southern Nevada and Renown Health, the University of Nevada School of Medicine will be increasing its physician training program capacity by 25 percent beginning in 2012, thanks to a reallocation of residency positions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced this redistribution of more than 1,300 medical education slots under the Affordable Care Act’s unused residency slot redistribution program. A total of 58 hospitals nationwide, including UMC and Renown, are receiving additional residency positions, based on their applications for need.

“Because Nevada has a very low medical resident-to-population ration, we ranked in the top ten states nationwide to receive additional positions. The majority of these positions will be used to expand primary care residency programs,” said Miriam Bar-on, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education, who, working in collaboration with UMC and Renown officials, spearheaded the effort for the School of Medicine. “This redistribution means we have the potential to increase our graduate medical education program of medical residents and fellows from 283 to 354, an increase of 25 percent.”

For Nevada, this reallocation translates into 50 new positions at UMC in Las Vegas and 21 at Renown in Reno. The University of Nevada School of Medicine trains its resident physicians at both hospitals. Residency programs provide new physicians additional clinical training beyond their medical degree in their chosen specialty field and last a minimum of three years.

School of Medicine residency programs increasing their complement of doctors as a result of the reallocation include internal medicine and family medicine in Reno and pediatrics, surgery and internal medicine in Las Vegas.

Residency training location is a strong indication of where physicians will likely practice medicine following completion of residency and has strong implications for the future availability of health care professionals in a given area.

“This expansion is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to be strong partners with major teaching hospitals in both Las Vegas and Reno, and to serve the state of Nevada,” said Dr. Thomas Schwenk, dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.

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