New technology and a new way of thinking could put Las Vegas on a path to better health care.
The UNLV School of Medicine is attracting physicians of the future in an effort to address southern Nevada's doctor shortage.
Doctors tend to practice where they do school and residency.
All 60 students in UNLV's inaugural class have ties to Nevada.
"We have such a large population of people here who are underserved and have to wait months to see physicians," said Lauren Hollifield, one of those students. "The mission of UNLV is to provide physicians that want to stay here, and all of us want to stay here."
Nevada ranks 46th in the country in physicians per capita.
It's a contributing factor to our 37th overall healthcare ranking, according to the United Health Foundation.
"UNLV has a great opportunity to build the pipeline that will grow the physicians that want to practice here that will then alleviate those access demands we have on our system," said Dr. Jeffrey Murawsky, the chief medical officer at Sunrise Hospital.
Also to attract the next generation of healthcare are plans to build a $250 million graduate medical education building.
"That building and everything that goes up around it is going to transform the entire Las Vegas medical district," said Paul Joncich with UNLV School of Medicine. "The projections are that the medical school as it grows will create 8,000 new jobs by 2030."
Every student is on a full tuition scholarship.
