Las Vegas, NV – The Graduate Medical Education program at Southern Hills Hospital is celebrating the accreditation of two brand new fellowships, both of which are the first of their kind in Nevada. In July, Southern Hills Hospital will welcome fellows for their brand new pain management and infectious disease program.
The infectious disease fellowship will be led by Luis Medina-Garcia, MD, FIDSA, a well-respected academic infectious disease physician in Las Vegas.
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the importance of collaboration. Every local healthcare institution faced insurmountable challenges, and through public-private partnerships like the Southern Nevada Hospital Surge Area Command we were able to overcome,” said Dr. Medina-Garcia. "We developed a program inspired by the concept of CDC’s ID/EIS fellowship, where the Southern Nevada Health District experts will help host and train our fellows. This will allow us to create the human resources needed to more effectively respond to emerging infectious disease threats with experiential public health training that will be key to properly responding in the next crisis. ”
In the program’s first year, they will welcome 1 fellow for the two year program. The infectious disease fellowship is the first Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) fellowship making it the first in the state of Nevada. The ID program will rotate between Southern Hills, Sunrise Hospital and the Nevada Health District and work closely with pharmacists, lab technicians and infection preventionists.
“I am tremendously grateful to HCA’s Southern Hills Hospital. Creating and leading the first infectious disease fellowship training program in the history of our state is the opportunity of a lifetime! Without a doubt, southern Nevadans will receive better infectious disease care as a result of this investment in our community.”
The GME program is also expanding to include a Pain Management fellowship as well, led by Dr. Michael Salas.
The pain management program will welcome two fellows for the inaugural year and the program lasts a year. This fellowship, like the infectious disease fellowship, is the first ACGME accredited program in Nevada. Pain management fellows will rotate between Southern Hills and the VA healthcare system.
“Our mission is to provide an academic environment committed to the highest quality education and to support its continued growth. Our goal is to empower learners and our team to provide exceptional healthcare built on a foundation of diversity, equity, and inclusion through compassion and respect,” said Dr. Angelina Rodriguez, Designated Institutional Official of the Sunrise Health GME Consortium, which includes Southern Hills. ‘We are committed to the lifelong wellbeing of these physicians, enabling them to give back to the community we serve. Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life, giving people a healthier tomorrow.”
Both the infectious disease and pain management fellowships begin in July.
Learn more about Graduate Medical Education at Southern Hills Hospital.