Graduate Med School programs get $10M in grants

Gov. Brian Sandoval has accepted the recommendations of his Graduate Medical Education Task Force to distribute $10 million in grant money.

The funding is designed to create 304 GME positions in Nevada to help make sure more Nevada medical students stay in the state to practice.

He said Nevada is turning out more medical students than there are residencies at the state’s different hospitals.

“That means that highly educated students are forced to leave the Silver State at a time when they are beginning real world application of their advanced education,” he said.

He said Nevada needs those doctors and, since most physicians stay in the area where they did their residency, this program was developed to provide those opportunities here.

Graduate Medical Education — residency — is required for licensure in all 50 states.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine at UNR received four of the grant awards to expand its Geriatrics program, Family and Community Medicine, Adult/child psychiatric and Internal Medicine programs — a total of $4.1 million.

The School of Medicine’s UNLV training program received a total of $2.2 million for two program expansions — the Psychiatry Residency training and OBGYN programs at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

In addition, grants were awarded to expand programs at Valley Health Hospital, Mountain View and Touro University programs, all in southern Nevada.