LAS VEGAS (AP) - Eighteen of 50 new doctors marking their graduations Friday as the inaugural class of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine plan to stay in Nevada for their residencies, officials said.
Special mention was made during ceremonies at the university’s Thomas & Mack Center of the school’s goal of increasing the number of active physicians per 100,000 residents in Nevada, currently ranked 45th in the nation.
UNLV medical school Dean Dr. Marc Kahn has said keeping graduates in the state is important for the program that began with a charter class in July 2017 and received full accreditation this year.
He says data shows that doctors are likely to stay where they serve residencies or fellowships.
A January 2020 report by the University of Nevada, Reno puts the state 48th for primary care physicians and 50th for general surgeons, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
But the report also said the number has increased 22% from 2010 to 2017.
Thirty-eight of the 60 students who began the inaugural class at UNLV medical school graduated from Nevada high schools. All of them received full scholarships.
The school currently has 240 students, 150 faculty physicians and more than 300 medical residents and fellows.
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