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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Emergency Medicine Residency Program First in Nevada

University Medical Center (UMC) and the University of Nevada School of Medicine have announced the formation of the state’s first emergency medicine residency program, which will train new emergency medicine doctors.

UMC and the University of Nevada School of Medicine underwent a rigorous accreditation process from the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) in order to establish the program. Initial accreditation was granted July 1, 2006. Currently, there are only 132 other such residency programs in the U.S. On the west coast, only California, Arizona and Utah, which is the newest program established in 2005, have an emergency medicine residency program. It was a natural fit for Nevada to also become accredited.

“The new program will train highly skilled residents to be emergency doctors in hopes of keeping them here to practice in our community,” said Dr. Dale Carrison, UMC’s chairman of the department of emergency services. “UMC alone treats more than 60,000 emergency patients a year and this program will give us and other health care facilities more doctors to help treat these patients.”

Residents joining the three-year program will gain expertise in all areas of medicine. In the first year, they will focus on learning about specialty areas of medical practice, with the second year providing ample opportunity to fine tune their skills by working alongside experienced emergency medicine doctors. During the last year, residents will focus exclusively on emergency medicine and will be qualified to treat any patient that walks into the emergency department.

“The ER residency program provides another level of quality health care for Nevada. We will also be able to recruit more doctors who want to come to Nevada and practice emergency medicine. Without the support of UMC CEO Lacy Thomas and others at the school, we wouldn’t have been able to bring this valuable program to our state,” said Carrison.

There are currently eight people participating in the program who will graduate in June of 2009. Interested applicants should contact the University of Nevada School of Medicine at (702) 671-2240.

About UMC
UMC is the only public, non-profit hospital in Clark County and operates the state’s only Burn Care Center and Level I Trauma Center as well as several Care Centers. UMC is affiliated with the University of Nevada School of Medicine and serves as the state's major clinical campus. Through its affiliation with the School of Medicine, residency programs in internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, family practice, general surgery and pediatrics are offered at UMC. Since 1931, UMC has been providing comprehensive medical care to all in its role as the community’s safety net provider.

About the School of Medicine
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969. The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, and Surgery, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada. The school’s statewide faculty physician practice groups have a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit unr.edu/med.

Contact Information:
Kristina Zemaitis
(702) 383-2090
kristina.zemaitis@umcsn.com
University Medical Center
1800 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102