Welcome to Graduate Medical Education at the University of Nevada School of Medicine!
Welcome to Graduate Medical Education at the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM). It is our mission to provide outstanding training for our interns, residents and fellows through supervised patient care, hands on learning, simulation and didactic education. Our programs meet and exceed the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements in each of the disciplines offered. We have programs (residency and fellowship) both in Las Vegas and in Reno. We are committed to excellence in both education and medical care.
Graduate medical education has changed dramatically over the last decade. Residents are being held accountable for demonstrating competence in the ACGME six core competencies:
- Patient Care
- Medical Knowledge
- Practice Based Learning and Improvement
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Professionalism
- Systems Based Practice
Programs are in turn being held accountable for adapting their curricula to ensure that residents are competent in their field of study. Resident outcomes whether they are on board passage rates or in assessing and applying current literature to patients have become the focus of our educational development. UNSOM accesses the state-of-the-art simulation centers in Las Vegas and Reno, where documenting patient care, interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism is possible. Initiatives are being developed to use these facilities to help in competency assessment.
In order to have optimal learning it is our responsibility to ensure residents and fellows have the educational experiences developed by their program directors which are free of harassment and prejudice. We have developed a confidential, non-traceable reporting button for residents to document such incidents should a person feel intimidated, harassed or that their education has been compromised. These incidents will be investigated discretely.
In 2011, the ACGME implemented new standards on duty hours and professionalism. Key aspects of these new standards include:
- Interns may not be on duty more than 16 hours
- There must be 8 hours between duty periods and should be 10 when possible
- Junior residents as defined by individual specialties may work overnight with call being 24 hours with 4 hours to complete work (24 + 4 or 28 hours in house at one time)
- Following overnight call, there must be 14 hours separating duty periods
- There may not be more than 6 consecutive nights of night float
- Supervision has become very well defined and supervision policies must outline situations when faculty must be called
- Handoffs must be monitored
Full details of the new standards may be found by clicking here.
To ensure that all standards are being upheld, there is a confidential, non-traceable button to report duty hour violations and complaints about supervision. We will not tolerate duty hour violations or any aspect of supervision deficits.
Other features that may be of interest to you on the website include:
- Residents as Teachers (RATs) program. This page includes a link to the webcampus site where the RATs modules live. Once the 7 modules are completed, a certificate will be issued.
- CV template and guidelines for cover letters.
- Resident Handbook.
I encourage you to become familiar with the new policies and your program’s requirements. Our goal is to provide the exceptional training for our residents and fellows, while providing a pleasant work environment. I look forward to meeting with everyone over the course of the upcoming months. Feel free to contact me via email at mbar-on@medicine.nevada.edu or phone at 702-671-6400. While my home office is located in Las Vegas NV I travel to Reno frequently. My hope is to meet with every resident annually, should you need to meet with me individually, please contact me directly.
Let’s have a great year and learn a lot!!
Miriam Bar-on, MD
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
Professor of Pediatrics
