UNLV will ask the Board of Regents next week to approve a master's degree program to train Filipino doctors to become nurses.

The program, which UNLV would operate in connection with a nursing college in the Philippines, could be the key to a visa for successful Filipino doctors.

They get America, and, ideally, Nevada gets nurses.

"In our country, we don't train doctors to become nurse practitioners," said Carolyn Yucha, dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' nursing school. "The reason why people in the Philippines are interested is because MDs can't come back here and be MDs. They can come back here and be nurses."

Because of a nationwide nursing shortage, foreign nurses with master's degrees are generally eligible for expedited visa processing.

Of the 3.5 percent of registered nurses in this country who received basic training outside the United States, more than half are from the Philippines, according to a 2004 survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The country is the largest exporter of nurses to the United States.

Numerous colleges in the Philippines teach nursing in English, using curriculums similar to those used at U.S. schools. When they arrive in the United States, their curriculum is reviewed by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools to evaluate their credentials. The nurses then must pass a national exam and have their fingerprints recorded before they can apply for a Nevada license.

The American Nurses Association has opposed widespread importation of foreign nurses, which it calls a short-term solution. There's a worldwide shortage of nurses and many health care officials worry the United States has seriously depleted the Philippines of its nurses.

St. Jude College in Manila, which offers bachelor's degrees in nursing, approached UNLV to bring its curriculum to the Philippines. The Manila school's graduates aren't required to leave the country or come to Nevada upon completing the program, Yucha said.

But coming to the United States has proved popular among Filipinos. The UNLV master's program at St. Jude College already has 48 doctors signed up for the fall despite not having final approval. There are 50 slots for the first year. The program won't cost Nevada taxpayers and will be funded by tuition revenue that UNLV will share with St. Jude.

The classes are all taught online and are almost an exact replica of the master's program at UNLV.

The Filipino doctors will do 18 hours of clinical practice a week. UNLV students studying for their master's degree are required to do more, Yucha said, noting the doctors already have extensive medical experience.

Yucha's hope is that these doctors-turned-nurses will develop a relationship with UNLV and if they come to the United States will chose to practice in Nevada or teach here.

A master's degree in nursing is required for the majority of state faculty positions. A shortage of nursing faculty has stymied university and college attempts to increase the number of nurses they graduate.

Nevada has the second lowest ratio of nurses to the population nationwide.

The state's colleges and universities recently met a legislative mandate to double the number of nurses they graduate each year. Policymakers have discussed asking them to double their graduate numbers again.

The Nevada System of Higher Education, the Legislature and the governor each has statewide committees studying the development of a health sciences center and the nursing shortage.

Options on the table include easing state regulations on who can teach nursing, said state Sen. Joe Heck, R-Henderson, who is on all three committees. Officials also are discussing extending a nursing loan-repayment program to private schools such as the University of Southern Nevada and Touro University, which train nurses.

Creating a nursing license reciprocity program could also help, Heck said. "It allows nurses to come without the bureaucratic nightmare of trying to get licensed in another state," he said.

Heck had not heard of UNLV's proposed Philippines program but said at first blush it's not an appealing idea. "I just don't understand how we're going to take physicians from the Philippines, give them a master's degree and allow them to teach," he said.

Why not let doctors here teach nursing, he said. Physicians in this state want to lend their services to expand the nursing population but can't because of state regulations, he said.

Importing nurses has a global impact, most often on Third World countries, he said, adding, "It's a growing problem of a local, national and worldwide nursing shortage."