Letter: Nevada short on doctors of all kinds

Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006 | 7:42 a.m.

The Las Vegas Sun's Sept. 29 article, "The Doctor's not in," raises a broader issue than just the shortage of pediatric endocrinologists. Our state suffers from an acute shortage of physicians, specialists, sub-specialists, dentists, nurses and speech pathologists. In fact, whatever the category, Nevada ranks at or near the bottom.

Earlier last week a report from the American Academy of Family Physicians revealed that there aren't enough family doctors in Nevada. The shortage of primary physicians and specialists is one of the major reasons why our state ranks so poorly in terms of death from diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Although this issue has been discussed and debated for a long time, the current and future consequences, given the increasing population of our state, needs to be addressed now. The creation of a Health Sciences Center, centered around the University of Nevada School of Medicine, would allow for an increased number of physicians and other health care personnel produced in the state. The Health Sciences Center would allow the medical school to expand and add faculty to train additional students and offer residency programs in many areas that currently force medical school graduates to go out of state.

It clearly seems that we have two choices: to pay now to ensure a future for our children and ourselves or to continue down the current path where endocrinology won't be the only specialty in short supply.

Abby Scheib, Las Vegas