Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV School of Medicine interviews first wave of applicants

Medical School Bill Signing

John Locher / AP

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signs SB 514 into law at UNLV on Thursday, June 11, 2015, in Las Vegas. The bill authorizes $27 million for the UNLV School of Medicine.

The first batch of prospective UNLV School of Medicine students will visit campus today for interviews that could grant them admission and full-ride scholarships.

The fledgling medical school received preliminary accreditation last month, paving the way for it to begin accepting applications Oct. 29. Since then, the school has received about 650 applications from interested students, about half of whom have some tie to Nevada, administrators said.

“Word got out pretty quickly that we were accepting applications,” said Sam Parrish, senior associate dean for student affairs and admissions at the medical school. “Within a very short period of time, we had a lot of activity in terms of people inquiring about applying to medical school here.”

Parrish deemed the applicant pool “strong,” based on the prospective students’ academic credentials and diverse backgrounds. Some are former teachers, nurses or businessmen seeking a second career as physicians; others are the first members of their families to attend college, he said.

Narrowing the field down to 60 students — the planned size of the school’s inaugural class — will be the next challenge as faculty try to find the right mix of students with different personalities and backgrounds but a common desire to serve Nevada after obtaining their medical degrees.

“We feel very strongly that students learn from each other,” Parrish said. “You want people you can talk to. You want people who are kind. You want people who are understanding. We’re looking to recruit people who bring those different characteristics with them in addition to strong academic performance.”

The UNLV School of Medicine, since its inception, has been billed as a community good that will create a pipeline of doctors to remedy the state’s physician shortage and improve regional health care. The school’s dean, Barbara Atkinson, and her team have been building a curriculum that heavily involves students in the community — the theory being that if they serve area residents throughout their training, they may be more inclined to practice here as well.

The medical school is even weaving that core mission into its admissions process by having community members interview applicants, Parrish said. Prospective students will be interviewed by one faculty member and one community member, such as a teacher, social worker, law enforcement employee or service organization worker.

The faculty and community members have been trained to deliver a carefully chosen set of questions and evaluate the applicants’ responses, looking for people who genuinely exhibit a desire to help others and a willingness to learn, Parrish said.

“We felt it was only appropriate that the community play a role in helping us choose the students that will serve this community,” he said.

Interviews begin with 20 prospective students today, kicking off the hunt for the medical school’s inaugural class of future doctors. School officials expect to have the class chosen by the end of March.

“From the standpoint of being a new school, it’s going to be exciting getting kids in and getting them as excited about this school as we are,” Parrish said. “For a new school without a track record and without a history, we’re asking kids to sort of operate on faith.”

Students aspiring to become doctors have applied to an average of 15 medical schools in recent years, according to the American Medical College Application Service, the centralized hub that processes applications. The UNLV School of Medicine went “live” on AMCAS after it received preliminary accreditation, which gave students the green light to apply.

Full accreditation is a multi-year process that, if all goes as planned, would happen in 2021 — the same year the first class of medical students would graduate. The UNLV medical school staff has been following the steps required by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the body that grants accreditation, to achieve the designation.

Because attending a new medical school comes with inherent risks, the UNLV School of Medicine has announced that it would be offering full-ride scholarships to every student in its charter class.

“We’ve got a quality educational experience that we’re going to provide for kids” Parrish said. “The challenge for us is to put together a class.”

It’s not the only medical school planning to welcome students for the first time next summer. The LCME also granted Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine preliminary accreditation in October.

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