University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
| By Cathleen Rineer-Garber, Communications and Publications Manager |
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center is New Mexico’s only academic health center.
These words are heard or read frequently in association with the UNM Health Sciences Center, but what exactly does it mean to be an academic health center and why is this important to the people of New Mexico?
According to the Association of Academic Health Centers, an academic health center is usually defined as a medical school with at least one other health care professional school or program and at least one affiliated or owned teaching hospital. The UNM Health Sciences Center, composed of the School of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, UNM Hospitals and the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, easily fits this description.
Over the past 50 years, academic health centers have been the engines of innovation in the health care sector in the US. It was at these centers where the first dialysis, the first chemotherapy, the first open-heart surgery, the first by-pass heart surgery, and many other “firsts” were performed in this country.
In addition to educating the nation’s next generation of health care professionals, the 125 academic health centers in the US today continue to lead the way in health care advancements, for the nation as well as their respective states and regions.
In our state, the UNM Health Sciences Center is home to the state’s only Level I trauma center; the state’s only children’s hospital, children’s psychiatric hospital and hospital for children with orthopedic/musculoskeletal conditions; and is the sole provider in New Mexico for a variety of pediatric specialties including hematology, pulmonary, infectious disease, and emergency medicine.
It is also home to one of the nation’s top cancer centers. The UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center recently joined the ranks of the most preeminent cancer research and treatment centers in the US when it was named a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer research and treatment center.
The UNM Health Sciences Center is also a hub of activity for biomedical research. UNM researchers, along with research scientists from partner organizations around the state, are conducting cutting-edge research in biomedical sciences and biotechnology. The UNM HSC is home to the New Mexico Molecular Library Screening Center and the MIND Institute.
In addition to its cutting edge research activities, the UNM Health Sciences Center is the sponsor for the New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team. As one of the first teams in the National Disaster Medical System and the first Disaster Medical Assistance Team in the western US, the NMDMAT has been responding to medical disasters since it was established in 1984.
What exactly does it mean to be an academic health center and why is this important to the people of New Mexico? The few examples cited here only begin to answer this question.
Whether increasing access to the most advanced cancer treatments available, training the next generation of health care professionals, or answering the national call when emergency strikes, the UNM Health Sciences Center and its valuable partners are an essential part of health care in New Mexico and the nation.
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