Academic Events

Family Medicine Interest Group

Our Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) hosts a variety of activities throughout the academic year. Students and residents take part in workshops on casting and splinting, joint and soft tissue injections and suturing. Every spring, a "crash course" on applying to residency programs is held. Our faculty are actively involved in FMIG events, sharing their skills and enthusiasm for the field of Family Medicine.

Rocking Chair

Each year our second year residents choose one Obstetrical patient to receive a new donated rocking chair. This program is sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and only occurs in twenty residencies in the United States. The residents are responsible for communicating with the new mother, having her sign the appropriate paperwork and, after delivery of the baby, assembling the rocking chair at the patient’s home. Age appropriate developmental books are also given to the mother to promote bonding.

http://www.rockingchairproject.org/

Las Vegas Marathon

Our faculty, residents and the Sports Medicine division of the Department of Family & Community Medicine are lighted to provide, for the races third consecutive year, some of the community’s best physicians to serve as medical support for the New Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon as well as providing health information at the Marathon Health Expo prior to the race.

Our commitment to the community, emphasis of health promotion through exercise and experience in special event safety are only a few of the reasons Nevada's School of Medicine Sports Medicine division was selected to provide on-site support. University Medical Center, the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine's major affiliate hospital, has joined in the effort and will provide registered nurse personnel, medical supplies and equipment at the marathon medical tent.

Community Outreach

The Department of Family & Community Medicine prides itself on service to the Las Vegas community. During the course of the year we participate in many educational and medical outreach programs.

The University Of Nevada School Of Medicine’s “Nevadans into Medicine” Program allows undergraduates contemplating medical school an opportunity to shadow physicians in their practice setting. Both residents and faculty of our department participate in this program.

The department annually performs hundreds of free or low cost sports physicals for Boy Scout troops, UNLV athletes, the Nevada Youth Football League, and other youth participating in sports. These are performed both on premises and at the playing fields. Our resident also participate in 3 to 5 community health fairs annually in which we provide blood pressures, vision tests, and BMI calculation free to residents of Southern Nevada.

Nevada Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program

Family Medicine operates the Nevada Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) funded through a grant received by the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA). In 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) which provides compensation to individuals who contracted eligible illnesses as a result of above ground nuclear testing. In 2000, RECA was amended and made provisions for the creation of RESEP.

The Nevada RESEP Project provides outreach, education, medical screening, referrals and assistance in filing RECA claims for those Nevada residents possibly affected by atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The medical screening consists of a medical occupation history, physical exam, diagnostic tests, post examination follow-up, compensation eligibility counseling and health risk education.

Rural Training

Family Medicine believes that rural training for physicians is a vital part of the practice of Family Medicine. All Family Medicine residents are required to spend one month in a rural Nevada location. In recent years, Boulder City, Elko, Mesquite and Winnemucca have been participating sites for the rotation. The specialty of Family Medicine evolved from the general practitioner of old who was entrusted to care for all members of a community, regardless of age or social status. During the rural rotation, residents experience the unique life of the “country doctor”. Additionally, the department is
adding two new resident slots for a rural track that may be starting as early as July 2008. We have completed the RRC review and are awaiting word of final accreditation. Rural track residents will do their internship in Las Vegas and their remaining two years in Fallon, Nevada.