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Nevada Medical School Profiles

   The University of Nevada School of Medicine was established in Reno by the Nevada State Legislator in 1969. Although it was built as an addition to the University of Nevada Reno, it retains separate funding. Currently each entering class consists of 52 MD medical students, 45 of whom are state residents. Priority for the remaining slots are given to states without public medical schools. Next year the school will expand it's class size to 62 and ultimately to 96 in the next decade. Tuition is $9,596 a year for NV residents, $14,164 for nonresidents of the aforementioned states and $27,877 for nonresidents. UNSOM receives $27 million in state funding per year and employs 235 full time faculty. (31), (32), (33), (34), (35)

    Touro University opened its doors in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, in the summer of 2004, growing rapidly with a current entering class size of 135 DO medical students (tuition $34,318), with a maximum capacity of 167, a current PA (Physician Assistant) class of 48 (tuition $25,065), with a maximum capacity of 150, a current OT (Occupational Therapy) class of 27 (tuition $21,840) with a maximum capacity of 60, and a current Nursing class of 56 (tuition $21,840), which can be broken down in MSN, BC-RN, and MSN-RN degrees, with a maximum capacity of 90. Touro is privately funded, investing $6 million in startup costs, and recently purchased the land it sits on plus an additional 500Kft2 of future expansion space for $34 million. The school receives no state funding, but does possess tax exempt status. The School of Medicine employs 32 full time faculty, and the rest of the school 19. Notwithstanding outside contractors, Touro U has 107 total people on their payroll. (28), (25), (26), 

     Regarding their medical programs, the first two years at both schools are quite similar; students learn the basic skills and theories of doctoring, and prepare for national board examinations. In addition, students from both schools engage in research, community service, and shadowing in their respective communities. In the third and fourth year rotations the requirements are nearly identical, students must complete 6 core rotations of internal medicine, family practice, surgery, psychiatry, emergency medicine, plus electives (37). In the first two years Osteopathic students learn OMM (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine) a hands-on manipulative treatment and must return monthly during their 3rd and 4th year rotations to Touro U for the required course, Osteopathic Principles and Practices. (78)

    However, despite these similarities, important differences arise between the two schools in the 3rd and 4th year. UNSOM employs 149 full time faculty to teach students during their 3rd and 4th year rotations, while Touro U relies on unpaid community (and faculty) volunteers (23, (91). In addition to teaching, full time UNSOM faculty engage in clinical practice and research, accounting for a majority of the funds in UNSOM's $70 million dollar/year operation (23), (32), (92), (93), (94), (102). Undoubtedly, there are positives and negatives inherent in both systems. UNSOM students may get the benefit of more one on one attention, or maybe even two on one, as there are 1.5 times the faculty as there are 3rd and 4th year students, and Touro U students are, perhaps, exposed to more realistic clinical settings and 'natural' physician practice at a much cheaper cost. (92), (93), (94), (95)

    Thus far, here in NV and across the country, it appears these systems have generally functioned well side by side; yet tensions do occur. First, community doctors may resent the subsidized competition from the state university employed physicians, and paying the taxes to support them. One out of every 30 practicing physicians in NV (There are 4333 MDs and 408 DOs practicing in NV (5), (6))  is a full time UNSOM employee, and UNSOM recoups only 70 cents on every dollar invested in their clinical practice employees. Secondly, full time UNSOM employees are prohibited from teaching rotating Touro U students. To some extent this is understandable, as UNSOM resources, taxpayer derived though they may be, are intended for UNSOM students. However, problems arise when certain prime teaching locations (UNSOM employees tend to be concentrated in the large area hospitals) are either monopolized or underutilized, notably in the areas of OB/GYN and psychiatry. Fortunately, these 'conflicts', if it is even fair to call them that, are the exception rather than the rule, a testament to the large, diverse, and underutilized medical community of Las Vegas. 

Chart 1 (26), (41)

    *Although not included because they are not medically related, Touro U has 33 students enrolled part time in a masters of education department (including specialized degrees in special education and autism) available for $328 /credit.

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