LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Match Day is a day filled with nerves and excitement, determining where medical students will spend the next few years training, and for some, staying home to serve their community.
For Raul Marquez, matching into family medicine in Las Vegas was more than just a career move, it was a commitment to the city where he was raised.
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“I moved out here with my family when I was a baby and so this community—I’ve seen it grow, prosper,” said Marquez.
Abel Garcia: Why was it so important for you to match here locally?
Raul Marquez: Oh, it's really important to me because this community has done so much for me.
Nevada has one of the worst doctor-to-patient ratios in the country, limited access to medical care is a growing crisis in the state and for Marquez, he says it's personal.
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Garcia: What comes to mind for you when you hear about all this stuff?
Marquez: It’s an inequity that should not exist. So it’s disheartening to see that people aren’t still able to get the basic medical care that they need.
Garcia: Did these issues and troubles also motivate you to want to stay and hopefully try to make a difference as well?
Marquez: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I have close relatives who, because of the physician gap, they're not able to get the immediate access to health care that they need.
The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV saw all 60 of its graduating students secure residencies, with 41% staying in Nevada.
But not everyone can stay. Haley Luckie marched into Neurology and she's heading to Alabama. The reason? She says it's because there are limited residencies in Nevada.
Garcia: Do you think that lack of resources may contribute to some people saying... I don’t think I want to stay here.
Hailey Luckie: Yeah, definitely. I also think just the limited amount of residency spots contributes to that because… there are other places with a lot more spots.
The Vice Dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Robert Hernandez tells me they hope to change that by working to expand opportunities for future doctors to stay in state.
“The School of Medicine is striving to address those challenges and issues. At the heart, this is what we're about—improving the health of the community. So we need to graduate outstanding doctors to help meet that goal,” said Hernandez.
“We’re really excited about the future of healthcare in Nevada because, you know, step by step I do see we’re heading towards a positive direction, even if we’re not where we need to be. I know we will be.”
Meanwhile, Touro University Nevada saw 99.4% of its 169 medical students match into residencies. 55 of them staying in Nevada, helping to address the physician shortage.
