Touro University Nevada Receives $1.2 Million-Dollar Grant to Launch Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
Touro University Nevada is pleased to announce it has received a $1.2 million dollar grant from Governor Brian Sandoval’s executive budget. The grant will fund the development of a one-year geriatric medicine fellowship program that will graduate four fellows per year. The university plans to have the first fellows in place by July 2017.
Graduate Medical Education (GME) training is required to obtain medical licensure to practice medicine and numerous studies have shown that a very high percentage of doctors practice in close proximity to where they received GME training. The philosophy that “if they train here, they stay here” is a direct factor in Nevada’s current healthcare provider shortage. With the state currently producing more undergraduate medical students than available residencies, students are forced to leave and seek training elsewhere across the country.
“The establishment of this new fellowship is the latest advancement for Touro’s College of Osteopathic Medicine,” said Dr. John Dougherty, dean of the program. “We are already a leading provider in geriatric medicine, and this fellowship will allow us to expand the care and services we provide to our community’s older adults.”
Fellows in the new geriatric medicine fellowship will train under the supervision of physicians at the university as well as its expanded Touro Health Center. Community partner institutions such as the Veterans Administration Southern Nevada Healthcare System, Nevada Senior Services, Fundamental Healthcare, Las Ventanas, and Lou Ruvo Brain Center/Cleveland Clinic will also play a role in the supervised education of the future healthcare providers.
“Touro University Nevada is pleased to receive this funding from Governor Sandoval and the Nevada Legislature to launch a fellowship,” said CEO & Senior Provost Shelley Berkley. “We know that most physicians stay in the area where they do their residencies and fellowships. This new program will encourage our medical students to stay in Nevada and help Touro further pursue its mission of improving health care in the state.”
In March of 2014, Governor Sandoval issued EO 2014-07 establishing a GME Task Force to develop recommendations for state funding of GME in the 2015 legislative session. The Governor accepted the recommendations and included $10 million for GME in his executive budget in the 2015 session, which was approved by the Legislature. In 2015, the Governor issued EO 2015-30, reestablishing the GME Task Force and charging it with providing recommendations on how to best distribute the $10 million allocated by the Legislature towards improving GME in Nevada. The Task Force developed a Request for Proposals and solicited applications from accreditor-approved GME programs or sponsoring institutions, evaluated the proposals and made recommendations to the Governor for funding.
About Touro University Nevada
Touro University Nevada (TUN) is a private, non-profit, Jewish-sponsored institution established to help address critical needs in health care and education and as a resource for community service in the state of Nevada. TUN opened its doors in 2004 and is now home to nearly 1,400 students, in a wide variety of degree programs including osteopathic medicine, physician assistant studies, education, nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. The university’s Henderson campus includes a multi-specialty health center and a multi-disciplinary Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. For more information on TUN, please visit www.tun.touro.edu or call 702- 777-8687.
###
For media information, please contact:
Mandi McCary/ Dana Gifford
702-277-7107 / 702-219-0530
