Work on college partnership to resume, Nevada officials say

A plan for Nevada's colleges to partner with a Mexican university has stalled, but officials are hoping to resume the effort during upcoming meetings.

Maggie Petrel, chief executive officer of Global Professional Medical Consulting, has been organizing the partnership.

She said the recently concluded legislative session delayed action on the deal.

"We're still working on the details," Petrel said.

College of Southern Nevada President Richard Carpenter said the consensus by university system leaders was that they couldn't devote resources to the project while the Legislature was in session. But, he said, meetings are expected to resume in the next few weeks.

"I think it's going to move along well," he said.

The partnership between four Nevada institutions and the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, in Guadalajara, Mexico, would be aimed at producing more Spanish-speaking doctors in Nevada.

Nevada students would pursue their undergraduate degrees at CSN, Nevada State College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before working on their medical degree in Guadalajara.

They then would take electives at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and complete their residencies in Southern Nevada.

If the partnership is completed, Nevada would join New York as the only states with a "fifth pathway," the name given to the program that allows U.S. students to pursue part of their medical training overseas.

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