International Diplomacy and Public Health | Jonathan Woodson | Voices from the Field – Video


International Diplomacy and Public Health | Jonathan Woodson | Voices from the Field
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Dr. Jonathan Woodson spoke at the Harvard School of Public Health as part of the Decision-making: Voices from ...

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International Diplomacy and Public Health | Jonathan Woodson | Voices from the Field - Video

Strategic Leadership in a VUCA World: Jonathan Woodson | Decision-Making: Voices from the Field – Video


Strategic Leadership in a VUCA World: Jonathan Woodson | Decision-Making: Voices from the Field
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Jonathan Woodson discusses strategic leadership in a VUCA worldan environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex a...

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Strategic Leadership in a VUCA World: Jonathan Woodson | Decision-Making: Voices from the Field - Video

National Report Ranks New Jersey Last for Efforts to Control Tobacco Use by Children

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Newswise New Brunswick, NJ The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a coalition of public health organizations, has ranked New Jersey 51 in the nation, including Washington D.C., in protecting children from smoking and tobacco use. Experts at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, are urging the state to reconsider utilizing funds from the 1998 Tobacco Settlement to reinstate the states comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, which was eliminated in 2009.

New Jersey is the only state that spends nothing to support tobacco prevention and treatment programs, despite receiving funds from the Tobacco Settlement and earning tobacco-generated revenue of more than $947 million in Fiscal Year 2014, said Jill M. Williams, MD, a professor of psychiatry and chief of addiction psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Treating and preventing tobacco dependence has been shown by several states to have a direct savings on healthcare costs related to smoking such as heart attacks, lung and other cancers.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, annual healthcare costs that can be contributed to smoking are $317 billion in New Jersey, $967 million of which is covered by the state Medicaid program. Medicaid is the primary health insurer for persons with mental illness in the U.S.

Significant health disparities exist in New Jersey, where there are very high rates of smoking among the poor and individuals with mental illness, Dr. Williams said. Ignoring the need to provide our most vulnerable citizens with accessible, effective smoking cessation programs not only affects their health, but increases long-term healthcare costs and ultimately affects the wallets of New Jerseys taxpayers.

In a published editorial piece last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, Williams and her colleagues underscored the need for collaborative, sustained efforts in treating tobacco addiction. To combat reliance on tobacco in mental health populations, the experts agreed that mental health services and government-sponsored tobacco control programs must work together to improve education and access to smoking cessation programs.

New Jersey has dedicated health professionals who are looking to work with the state on collaborative efforts that can increase opportunities for prevention and wellness services, and broaden access to smoking cessation programs through clinical care, explained Williams, who chairs the New Jersey Breathes Coalition. Reinstating funding for a tobacco control program in the next state budget can result in comprehensive services to treat tobacco addiction and help New Jersey prevent smoking and reliance on other tobacco products for our children.

The report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Fifteen Years Later, can be found at: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/what_we_do/state_local/tobacco_settlement/. Additional information on the effects of tobacco on the health and finances of New Jersey may be found at: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/facts_issues/toll_us/new_jersey.

About Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School As one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. In cooperation with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate, they comprise New Jersey's premier academic medical center. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.

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National Report Ranks New Jersey Last for Efforts to Control Tobacco Use by Children

Key to reverse aging unlocked

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of NSW have discovered a way of restoring the efficiency of cells, completely reversing the aging process in muscles

LONDON: Researchers have found a cause of ageing in animals that can be reversed, possibly paving the way for new treatments for age-related diseases including cancer, muscle wasting and inflammatory diseases. The researchers hope to start human trials late next year.

The study, which is published in the journal Cell, relates to mitochondria, which are our cells battery packs and give energy to carry out key biological functions.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of NSW have discovered a way of restoring the efficiency of cells, completely reversing the aging process in muscles. Researchers injected a chemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or NAD, which reduces in the body as we age.

The work, led by UNSW Medicines David Sinclair, found a series of molecular events enable communication inside cells between the mitochondria and the nucleus. As communication breaks down, ageing accelerates.

The ageing process we discovered is like a married couple when they are young, they communicate well, but over time, living in close quarters for many years, communication breaks down, says UNSW professor Sinclair, who is based at Harvard Medical School.

And just like a couple, restoring communication solved the problem, says the geneticist.

The background to the research is that as we age, levels of the chemical NAD, which starts this communication cascade, decline.

Until now, the only way to slow the NAD drop was to restrict calories and exercise intensively.

In this work, the researchers used a compound that cells transform into NAD to repair the broken network and rapidly restore communication and mitochondrial function. It mimics the effects of diet and exercise.

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Key to reverse aging unlocked

Doctors missing link in system

Dec. 21, 2013, midnight

A MEDICAL school was needed on the Border to retain vital skills in the region, according to Charles Sturt University chancellor Lawrence Willett.

A MEDICAL school was needed on the Border to retain vital skills in the region, according to Charles Sturt University chancellor Lawrence Willett.

Mr Willett yesterday said it was outrageous that CSU still lacked a medical faculty.

He said very few of the students who went to Melbourne or Sydney for medical training ever returned.

At the same time, that CSU students in other fields such as physiotherapy or nursing often stayed working in rural or regional areas.

The problem with training people in metropolitan areas is they find partners there or the like, he said.

A lot of them never come back.

If you train people in the country, you get a better retention rate.

Mr Willett made the comments after yesterdays Faculty of Science graduation ceremony his last before retiring next December.

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Doctors missing link in system

Medical School Could Be Coming To Fort Smith

Posted on: 9:30 pm, December 18, 2013, by Aubry Killion, updated on: 10:14pm, December 18, 2013

Fort Smith may be the home to a medical school in the next five years. The plans are in the preliminary stages, but supporters say the medical school could have a big impact on the River Valley.

The Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation has announced that an osteopathic medical school could soon be built in Fort Smith.

Its a game changer, said Tom Webb, the foundations executive director.

Webb said Fort Smith is a perfect location for the school.

In western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, they need docs, he said.

Webb said it could take nearly half a year of brainstorming and assessing costs before anything definitive is decided. However, the facility may be just what the River Valley needs.

We are probably in one of the most under-served physician parts of the country.

A medical school in the area could have several focuses, Webb said.

They do family medicine, they do OBGYN, they do internal medicine, and they actually are on the front line, he said.

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Medical School Could Be Coming To Fort Smith

Smarten Up About Medical School Success

Being a successful medical school candidate doesnt necessarily mean being smart it also means being prepared.

Most people who seriously consider the career path to becoming a physician definitely think of themselves as "smart" students. However, some may have been dissuaded or bumped into some unexpected obstacles along the way, both of which could have been avoided.

If you are wondering if you have what it takes to be successful inmedical schooland as a doctor, take a look at the following strategies.

I have often seen students in premed advising be told they must take both biology and chemistry their freshman year. But given that the transition fromhigh schooltocollegecan be a major adaptation, students may not want to register for two hard science courses with labs the first semester of college.

[Learnwhat to do after a semester of bad premed grades.]

Getting mediocre grades in two difficult courses can discourage students fromapplying to medical school. I have seen successful professionals regret giving up on their dream to become a physician.

Physician assistants, nurses, lab technicians and others can certainly apply to medical school later in their careers, but attending medical school is much harder physically and mentally when you're older.

Spacing out the challenging prerequisites in the beginning of college gives you a better chance of doing well in each of your important premed courses. If needed, you can double up on courses later, when you are more adept at handling the rigors of college, or choose to take a summer course.

[Get tips on how toavoid procrastinating in medical school.]

Premed students are also often told that they shouldpractice for the MCATby taking the MCAT. This is another piece of poor advice that can damage self-esteem regarding medical school readiness.

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Smarten Up About Medical School Success

UNLV Medical School in the Works

LAS VEGAS -- There are now serious plans in the works to create a new medical school at University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Educators are meeting almost daily to work out how to get it built. They say this will lead to dramatic changes in medical education, research, training and patient care.

Local students who want to become medical doctors oftenget their undergraduate degree at UNLV but then head north to UNR to continue their medical education.

If UNLV builds a medical school, the hope is to cultivate doctors who will train locally and practice locally.

Doctor Matthew Schwartz, who practices at Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, is home grown talent. He went to Valley High School,UNLV and UNR before returningto Las Vegasto practice.

"I wish I could have stayed here for medical school," Dr. Schwartz said.

Now a radiation oncologist, he supports bringing a state-run medical school to UNLV.

"We obviously have a great need for good doctors here in Las Vegas. Medical students, more residencies, would really bring more good doctors to Nevada and that's what we need," he said.

While some medical experts have expressed concern that there is not enough students to fill a new medical school, economists say otherwise.

Mary Riddel, the chair of economics at UNLV,says the valley is really lacking in the medical services industry. She says a new medical school would help turn the economy around by bringing nearly 2,000 jobs and anestimated $1.2 billion to the Las Vegas economy.

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UNLV Medical School in the Works

Audio-Digest Foundation Announces the Release of Psychology Volume 02, Issue 17: Couples, Family, and Psychotherapy

Glendale, CA (PRWEB) December 20, 2013

Audio-Digest Foundation announces the release of Psychology Volume 02, Issue 17: Couples, Family, and Psychotherapy.

The goals of this program are to improve marital and family relationships and the psychologic health of families and individuals through the use of basic strategies and techniques of family and marital therapy. After hearing and assimilating this program, the clinician will be better able to:

1. Define the goals of family therapy. 2. Describe the core concepts of family therapy. 3. Identify the structural problems that characterize dysfunctional families. 4. Evaluate dysfunctional families and couples. 5. Counter resistance to therapy in couples or families.

The original programs were presented by Ira Glick, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical School, and Director, Schizophrenia Clinic at Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto, CA.

Audio-Digest Foundation, the largest independent publisher of Continuing Medical Education in the world, records over 10,000 hours of lectures every year in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, family practice, gastroenterology, general surgery, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, pediatrics, psychology, and urology, by the leading medical researchers at the top laboratories, universities, and institutions.

Recent researchers have hailed from Harvard, Cedars-Sinai, Mayo Clinic, UCSF, The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, The University of California, San Diego, The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, The University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and many others.

Out of these cutting-edge programs, Audio-Digest then chooses the most clinically relevant, edits them for clarity, and publishes them either every week or every two weeks.

In addition, Audio-Digest publishes subscription series in conjunction with leading medical societies: DiabetesInsight with The American Diabetes Association, ACCEL with The American College of Cardiology, Continuum Audio with The American Academy of Neurology, and Journal Watch Audio General Medicine with Massachusetts Medical Society.

For 60 years, the global medical community of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and other medical professionals around the world has subscribed to Audio-Digest specialty series in order to remain current in their specialties as well as to maintain their Continuing Education requirements with the most cutting-edge, independent, and unbiased continuing medical education (CME).

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Audio-Digest Foundation Announces the Release of Psychology Volume 02, Issue 17: Couples, Family, and Psychotherapy

Harvard Fined $24,036 by U.S. After Research Primates Die

Harvard Medical School was fined $24,036 for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act related to the deaths of four primates used in research as well as several escapes and injuries of animals.

The 11 violations, which occurred between February 2011 and July 2012, included providing an animal with too much anesthesia and allowing others to become dehydrated, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a document on its website today.

Harvard Medical School spokesman David Cameron confirmed the USDA action and said in a phone interview that the Boston-based medical school paid the fines. He said he didnt have further details.

The USDA said one animal had to be killed because of improperly administered anesthesia and another died with the chain from a toy wrapped around its neck. Other violations related to a food hopper that wasnt secured properly, allowing apes to escape, and dehydration that led to two being euthanized.

Federal inspectors also observed signs of physical and psychological distress in the animals, the agency said.

The USDA has literally let Harvard get away with murder, Michael Budkie, executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! of Milford, Ohio, said today in an e-mailed statement.

Harvard in April said it would close its New England Primate Research Center over the next two years due to funding constraints, according to a statement at the time. The facility, which conducted studies of illnesses including AIDS, colon cancer and Parkinsons disease, is still open.

The fine wont motivate Harvard to do better, Justin Goodman, director of laboratory investigations for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said today in a statement. Thankfully, the school already recognizes that tormenting monkeys is not the future of science and made the laudable decision to completely shut down the facility, he said.

The Harvard case was one of eight enforcement actions announced by the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on its website today.

The agency is responsible for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, which requires minimum standards of care and treatment for animals bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially or exhibited to the public. The law excludes animals raised for food and fiber.

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Harvard Fined $24,036 by U.S. After Research Primates Die

Southborough: Harvard fined after primate research center deaths

The U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Harvard Medical School $24,036 for violations of the Animal Welfare Act at the university's Southborough primate research facility, the department announced Wednesday.

According to an announcement from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the fine was levied as a result of 11 violations at the New England Primate Research Center, on Pinehill Road in Southborough, from February 2011 to July 2012.

Meanwhile, an animal rights group that has frequently protested the center and criticized its operations issued a statement calling the fine "paltry" and said the punishment should have been far more severe.

The USDA, in a citation and penalty notification document, outlined a series of infractions, including four primate deaths, three incidents where monkeys escaped from their enclosure and other violations involving injuries and negligence to animals.

The violations included an incident in February 2011 when an anesthetist administered too high of a dose of anesthesia to a monkey, causing kidney failure and requiring the primate be euthanized. On two other occasions, two monkeys became dehydrated to the point where they had to be euthanized, according to the report. The fourth primate death outlined in the 11 violations happened when a monkey got wrapped up in a chain from an "enrichment toy" and the chain wrapped around its neck.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Harvard Medical School called the fine "appropriate." According to the statement, the school has undergone two reviews, including the USDA investigation. In addition, the school underwent a review by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, which granted full accreditation.

"The leadership of the school cares deeply about upholding exemplary standards of care and attributes these outcomes to the excellent work of those members of our community who took aggressive action to institute rigorous quality improvements that benefit animal safety and welfare," read the statement.

A press release issued Wednesday by Stop Animal Exploitation NOW argued that the fines from the USDA should have been steeper.

According to the release, the USDA could have fined Harvard up to $10,000 for each of the 11 listed violations.

"The USDA has literally let Harvard get away with murder," Executive Director Michael Budkie said in a press release. "The fine levied by the USDA is less than one-fourth of the potential penalty. This is a true miscarriage of justice."

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Southborough: Harvard fined after primate research center deaths

Fresno doctor’s license suspended, accused of negligence

The Medical Board of California has suspended for the third time this year the license of a Fresno physician who has a history of spouse abuse, drug and alcohol use.

In the Dec. 13 suspension order, a state administrative law judge said the medical board had demonstrated that Dr. Jose Luis Flores was unable to safely practice medicine due to a mental or physical condition.

Flores was not present at the Dec. 13 hearing. Efforts to notify him about the hearing were unsuccessful, the suspension order said.

His license was suspended until a Jan. 2 hearing.

Flores, a pain management doctor who graduated from the UC Davis Medical School, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

He was not present on Sept. 18 when the medical board suspended his license but did not specify reasons. The suspension was immediate but temporary until a regularly scheduled hearing could take place.

Flores testified at the medical board hearing on Oct. 3, the board said. After that hearing, a suspension order was issued on Oct. 9 but was stayed as long as Flores met certain conditions, including that he not drink or use controlled substances, and that he be tested for both. Flores said at the hearing that he was seeking help for his issues, the board said.

But on Oct. 17, the board filed an accusation alleging that Flores was not competent to practice medicine. The board accused Flores of negligence and said he had "used or administered to himself controlled substances, used dangerous drugs, and/or used alcoholic beverages" to impair his ability to practice medicine and to be a danger to himself or others.

The board also accused Flores of prescribing dangerous drugs without appropriately examining patients, failing to maintain adequate and accurate medical records and excessively prescribing controlled substances and dangerous drugs.

In the accusation, the medical board said it was notified that Flores had been arrested in January 2012 in Madera County on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse. Three months later, he was arrested by the Fresno County Sheriff's office on the same charge and another charge of false imprisonment. The Madera County District Attorney's office said no charges were filed against Flores. The charges were dismissed in Fresno County, the board said.

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Fresno doctor's license suspended, accused of negligence

Medical school taking shape

Former M'town hospital to house dorms, classes

Construction continues Wednesday at the future campus of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown.JOHN MEORE/For the Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 11/14/13

MIDDLETOWN The former Horton Hospital is starting to look a little more like a medical school.

The ground floor of the future Touro College building, which used to be the hospital's shipping and storage area, is already taking shape as classrooms and study areas for the school of osteopathic medicine. The seats are already in the lecture hall downstairs, and walls have gone up, dividing the floor into spacious study areas.

When it's done, the college will contain 110,000 square feet, 30,000 feet bigger than Touro's Harlem campus, which is housed in a converted department store, said Dr. Kenneth Steier, dean of the Middletown campus.

"You can never have enough study space," Steier said, as he showed a reporter and photographer around.

Student services will be on the first floor. There will be more classes on the second floor rooms where the students can practice medicine on mannequins, or where they will practice diagnosis on actors who pretend to have different ailments.

The former patients' rooms on the second floor are turning into dorm rooms for students and offices for professors. In total, 104 students will be able to live in the former hospital, Steier said.

The school will open in August 2014. So far, Touro has received 5,000 applications for the first year, and 90 percent of them have said they would be interested in attending either Touro's Harlem or Middletown campuses. Steier said 30 students of the college's first class of 135 have been picked already.

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Medical school taking shape

Is there more than one path to medical school?

Theres a feeling among premeds that were on an assembly line for medical schoolthat college is just a series of classes to take in preparation for the basic science years of medical school, that clinical volunteering and research are the only valuable extracurriculars, and that if were not the best within this set of parameters, then we wont be able to get into medical school. But where does this feeling come from? Its misinformationa prescriptive standard of medical admissions taken from the Student Doctor Network (and other online repositories of applicants with 4.0 GPAs and a thousand community service hours) and passed around by word-of-mouth until it became the standard that we aspire to.

In all reality, medical school admissions officers are more understanding than we give them credit for. Are GPA, MCAT scores, and certain extracurriculars important? Absolutely. Clinical volunteering, for example, proves that we looked inside of medicine and liked what we saw. But arent we more than just medical school applications? Is there more than one path to medical school? What we as premeds sometimes forget is that the answer to that question is a loud and resounding Yes.

This forgetfulness fosters the kind of competitive attitude that makes people dislike premeds. It makes many of us feel like we need to be the best in every class because all an admissions committee will see is a letter grade on an application, and its easy to feel like thats all that matters. That feeling, that focus on grades, makes it very easy to forget where we are. We forget that were members of a community, a community that could lend a helping hand to someone who needs it, that could band together through the difficult path to medical school instead of dividing over a bell curve.

When we isolate ourselves from this community, we remove ourselves from a support network, and the path to medical school becomes a solitary march, forced and grueling, instead of the road trip it should be. Its a corny metaphor, but it works: The path to medical school should not consist of a series of classes taken because they are required, or of a group of extracurriculars that we cram in because they look good on an application. Premed groups on campus should not be a way of padding our rsums, but instead a place for us to band together, help each other, and figure out who we want to be as doctors. We should be willing to meander sometimes, to take a risk, to take a class thats just interesting, not to worry about which Global Core is an easy A, and to participate in extracurriculars that are just fun. We should be willing to hang out with friends on a Friday night. This is what should happenbut its not what is going on.

Recently, while speaking in Hamilton Hall, the dean of admissions of Dukes School of Medicine said that she was looking for students who were willing to fail, students who could get up after they stumbled. Admittedly, many of us already stumble and fall in our basic premed sciencesbut too many of us are afraid to get back up.

This doesnt mean that we should go and fail a class intentionally just so we can show how awesome we are when we get an A in it the next semester. Instead, this means that we need to be willing to take risks. If you want to be a music major, be a music major. If you want to take that internship with an advertising company downtown, do it! And if you want to do research in a lab, be a bio major, or do anything that we call traditional, the more power to you.

Its become somewhat of a clich to say that admissions processes are holisticI went on a lot of college tours, and not a single one told me, We only look at your GPA and SAT scores. However, holism is something that we as premeds too often forget about: We compartmentalize learning biology and taking Art Hum, but theyre not so different. All of these classes that were taking develops the same ability to analyze, to communicate, and to do all of the things that, hopefully, will make us good doctors someday. Not just competent doctors, not just knowledgeable, but doctors able to communicate effectively with patients and share a connection with them. And thats something every doctor should be able to do.

The author is a Columbia College junior majoring in art history.

To respond to this column, or to submit an op-ed, contact opinion@columbiaspectator.com.

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Is there more than one path to medical school?

Answering questions about a proposed new medical school in Las Vegas

By Paul Takahashi (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 | 2 a.m.

Nevadas higher education leaders announced plans last week to open a medical school at UNLV.

The news immediately generated buzz on campus and around Las Vegas.

Unlike other major campus proposals recently such as a football stadium or apartment-style dorms the UNLV medical school represents a largely academic endeavor. Supporters believe such a school will transform the university and Southern Nevada.

Proponents argue a UNLV school of medicine has the potential to cure Las Vegas health care ills, such as its physician shortages and residents poor health outcomes. They also hope a UNLV medical school would diversify Southern Nevadas battered economy by spurring clinical research and attracting new medical businesses and tourism.

Since Nevada university leaders have inked a deal, plenty of questions abound. Heres a sampling, with some answers:

Why hasnt there been a medical school in Las Vegas?

For years, Southern Nevadans have lobbied for a four-year, allopathic medical school at UNLV. They argue Las Vegas is home to the majority of the states population and is the largest metropolitan region in the country without an M.D.-granting medical school.

Many Southern Nevadans believe Las Vegas doesnt have a medical school because of a longstanding geopolitical rivalry between Northern and Southern Nevada.

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Answering questions about a proposed new medical school in Las Vegas