"The new laboratory will provide New Mexico’s future health care professionals with education and experience in a state-of-the-art facility" - Paul B. Roth, M.D. Dean, School of Medicine

Vote on Bond B for Education by Cathleen Rineer-Garber On Nov. 2, New Mexicans will head to the polls to cast their votes in the national election. Included on this year’s general election ballot will be a $94.6 million capital outlay request for higher education. The request, referred to as Bond B, addresses the needs of all institutions of higher learning across the state. If approved, Bond B will provide the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center with funding for two vital projects: $8 million for the construction of a new anatomy teaching laboratory and $2 million to purchase equipment that is essential for patient care and education. According to Paul Roth, Dean of the UNM School of Medicine, the existing anatomy laboratory is too small to accommodate any additional students. Because of this, the School of Medicine is unable to increase enrollment for medical students. Space constraints also prevent other UNM Health Sciences Center students, such as pharmacy students, from sharing the anatomy laboratory. “The new laboratory will provide New Mexico’s future health care professionals with education and experience in a state-of-the-art facility,” says Roth. In addition, it will allow the School of Medicine to expand its medical student enrollment from 75 to 100 in each class, thereby increasing the number of future physicians trained in the state. The expanded laboratory facility is part of a broader plan for a Combined Degree Program that will enable the School of Medicine to recruit highly accomplished and motivated high school students into a special program, leading both to a bachelor’s degree and the MD degree. “The creation of this new medical school track would be an exciting way for us to retain the best and brightest New Mexicans,” says Roth. Although any high school student would be able to apply, special recruitment efforts would be directed to communities that are both underrepresented by the medical profession and medically underserved. “We cannot move forward with the plan for increased enrollment and the Combined Degree Program unless we build a new anatomy lab,” he says. Also included in Bond B is $2 million for the UNM HSC to purchase a system for storing diagnostic images digitally. This new system will enhance medical education by making images (x-ray, MRI, C-T scan, ultrasound, etc.) available to students and faculty electronically, rather than relying solely on film images. It will also allow teams (medical students and residents, attending physicians, ER physicians, etc.) to access the same image simultaneously from different locations, which is essential to the educational process and patient care. “Funding for these two projects is important in helping the UNM Health Sciences Center move forward with its missions of education, health care, research and partnerships,” says R. Philip Eaton, MD, Vice President for UNM Health Sciences. “We hope the citizens of New Mexico will continue their long tradition of supporting the HSC by voting on Bond B in November.” For more information on Bond B, visit www.educationforNM.com or contact the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences at 272-5849 or by email at rpeaton@salud.unm.edu.   Missed a feature story? Click here to browse our features archive.

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