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Washoe County Medical Society

WCMS Dean’s Dispatch

Dr. Thomas Schwenk Dean of the School of Medicine and VP of Health Science

August is always an exciting month at UNR Med, as new students arrive to begin their medical studies and careers. This August was more exciting than usual. UNR Med welcomed the Class of 2021 to our fully northern Nevada-based medical school with a new and exciting orientation experience – MedFIT.

MedFIT is modeled after NevadaFIT, the academic boot camp for incoming University of Nevada, Reno undergraduates. Rather than a quick one- or two-day orientation, where students are told about our School of Medicine, they get to experience UNR Med firsthand.

Our 70 new students were involved in activities designed to build relationships with UNR Med and main campus faculty and staff, and perhaps more importantly, with each other. An extremely interesting group, our incoming class speaks 20 languages, has lived in or traveled to 28 countries and has interests ranging from skydiving to playing the French horn to fighting wildfires.

The two-week orientation included labs, lectures, team building exercises, one-on-ones with faculty and leadership, and Art Rounds – an innovative visual teaching session. MedFIT concluded with Family Day and the time-honored White Coat Ceremony, where each student committed to a lifetime of learning, teaching and compassionate care by reciting the Honor Pledge.

Once the festivities came to an end, our students went to work. Classes began August 14, and I had the pleasure of working with first-year students in the Student Outreach Clinic (SOC) the very next day. UNR Med first-year students receive immediate hands-on experience with patients at the SOC, where they are supervised by licensed faculty and community physicians to provide medical care to those in the community who would otherwise go without.

During our UNR Med 2017 State of the School Address on Sept. 12, I highlighted the components of a successful and sustainable School of Medicine and how they work together to usher in a new era of Nevada medical education. MedFIT, a 98.2 percent match rate and a spot (no. 13) in the nation’s top 20 most affordable medical schools are just a few examples of UNR Med’s contributions to student success. We are constantly engaged in conversations with students to look for ways to evolve, improve, and meet their needs and actively incorporate our mission and values in the foundation of a richly-rewarding medical education.