Nevada System of Higher Education
Health Sciences System Newsletter 
May 2014
   
The Health Sciences System (HSS) was established by the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents in 2006. Its purpose is to address Nevada's community health issues through a system-wide effort to integrate and expand the education of health professionals and to foster collaborative research in health and health care.  Through collaboration among the NSHE institutions and a broad range of external partners, the HSS intends to be a catalyst for improvement in the health and wellness of Nevada.  Visit us at:  http://system.nevada.edu/
TMCC's EMT Students Donate iPods to Regent Care

Truckee Meadows Community College's Emergency Medical Services students, so moved by witnessing the filmed transformation of a man named Henry from silently withdrawn to animated singing, brainstormed and carried out a musical project that will be handed down to future EMT classes at TMCC.  Michael Schulz, EMS Instructor, presented the video documentary "Alive Inside" to his Saturday EMT class. In the movie, Henry, bent over in his wheelchair, looking down, sometimes answers yes or no questions, but not always. He is given an iPod with his favorite music ... and he becomes a totally different man - with bright, wide open eyes, swaying and spiritedly singing.

 

The EMT class created a community engagement project that donates iPods to area elder care facilities. Current and past students in the program who belong to the EMS club also assisted with setting up some parts of the project, writes Timothy Fodor, EMT student. Students worked with Regent Care, a large facility that liked the project's goals and whose residents have limited ability to participate in many of the activities offered, according to Fodor and fellow EMT student Gennie McClelland.  Collecting 11 iPods, matching headphone sets, chargers and $120 in iTunes gift cards, 12 students traveled to Regent Care in April and introduced residents to their new music players, showing how an iPod works and helping them to start navigating through the menus.  "The most exciting part of helping the elderly is seeing the student's willingness to do so," according to Schultz. "At the presentation of the iPods and gift cards, the students lingered around and spent time with the residents. I am very proud of them."



UNLV School of Nursing Bolsters Mental Health Curriculum

Although patients may stop in an emergency room or doctor's office for a medical issue, an underlying mental health need might be interfering with their wellbeing as well. The Nursing School retooled its curriculum to ensure all of its students are ready to treat such patients.

 

In the last two years, the School of Nursing has bolstered the mental health portion of its curriculum with the introduction of standardized patient simulations, which take place at the Clinical Simulation Center Las Vegas. The "patient" is a professional actor specially trained to portray aspects of PTSD and the nurses are fourth-semester students of the nursing program.

 

Students also work with patients diagnosed with psychiatric and mental health conditions under the supervision of clinical faculty. The psychiatric nursing experience gained by students includes observing courtroom cases involving juvenile behavioral and mental health issues, visiting psychiatric hospitals and substance abuse treatment facilities, and attending group sessions with those suffering from mental health issues.

 

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University of Nevada School of Medicine Holds Hooding Ceremony

 

Fifty-seven new physicians took another step to joining the workforce following the School of Medicine's 2014Hooding Ceremony

 held May 16 at Lawlor Event Center in Reno. The Class of 2014 has a short break before they begin their residency training programs across the country. Of note, 22 graduates, or 40 percent, will enter primary care specialties including internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine. Nationwide, and in especially in Nevada, there is a shortage of primary care physicians.

 

 


Did you know: 
The Nevada System of Higher Education has 150 distinct Health Sciences programs throughout eight institutions with an estimated total of 18,000 enrolled students.
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