LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada is ranked one of the worst states in the country for the number of physicians we have serving our population. That means Southern Nevada residents suffer with long wait times and difficulty getting an appointment.
According to a recent report in the National Institutes of Health, Nevada needs more than 2,500 physicians just to catch up to the national average.
We’re one step closer to that goal after Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine celebrated 54 of its graduating students matching with in-state providers for their residencies on Friday. That’s a record-breaking number for Touro.
“We are proud that we are fulfilling our mission to serve and to bring physicians to Nevada,” said Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar, dean of the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Michelle Kleitsch is one of those future physicians. She matched with Sunrise Mountainview for OBGYN. It was her number one choice.
"We've fallen in love with the community here. It's exactly the population that I want to work with as a future physician,” Kleitsch said. “Just everything that we could ask for.”
Not everyone wanted to stay in Nevada. More than half the class matched with residencies out-of-state.
In total, 157 students make up the class of 2024. Touro University says 99.4% of the graduates were placed with the institutions of their choice, entering residencies in 29 states.
"We've got a lot of really good doctors here. It's just that there's not enough," said Dr. Andrew Eisen, who is in charge of developing new residency programs for Valley Health System. He's also the former president of the Nevada State Medical Association.
Dr. Eisen says the more graduates the state places in local residency programs, the better because they're more likely to stay.
“As is the case with most professionals, physicians tend to start their practice wherever they finished their training,” Dr. Eisen said.
It will eventually happen but it’s going to take years for Nevada fill the healthcare workforce gap, according to Dr. Eisen.
"Clearly the fact that the city has grown so quickly, so much has been a part of that. But also, not having that medical education infrastructure here for a long time, sort of put us behind to begin with,” Dr. Eisen said.
Dr. Eisen says more investment is also needed in retaining Nevada's medical graduates if the Nevada is ever going to have a full physician workforce.
“As we talk about health care policy across the state, keeping the focus on what benefits patients, how do we ensure that the most patients have the best access to the best quality care everywhere in the state."
