For immediate release: May 15, 2009

Contact: Anne McMillin, APR
Health Science Communication
Office 775-682-9254
Mobile 702-292-4247
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu

School of Medicine holds hooding ceremony

Class of 2009 enjoys commencement, prepares for residency

RENO, Nev.—Commencement ceremonies for the University of Nevada School of Medicine Class of 2009 were held this afternoon at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. The 51 graduating students celebrated completion of their medical education by receiving their academic hoods and reciting the Hippocratic Oath, which reaffirms their commitment to the medical profession.

            Jackson Streeter, M.D., an alumnus from the School's Class of 1988 and founder and executive chairman of the San Diego-based biomedical engineering firm PhotoThera, served as the ceremony keynote speaker.

            The Class of 2009 will have a short break before they begin their residency training programs across the country in July. This year’s graduating class continued Nevada’s tradition of placing in some of the nation’s most competitive residency programs. Fifty students matched with more than 30 different residency institutions across the nation and will enter specialties ranging from anesthesiology to otolaryngology.

            Nine graduates, or 18 percent of the class, will stay in the state to enter into residency programs offered through the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Nearly one-quarter of this year’s graduating class matched with residency programs not currently offered within the state. Students matching with some of the most competitive residency training programs include placements with University of Michigan, the Mayo Clinic, Oregon health and Science University, Baylor College and the University of Wisconsin.

           In addition to celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2009, the School of Medicine honored several faculty and community members who have supported the philosophy and goals of the medical school and have made significant contributions to the health care field in Nevada.

As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.