UNM plans major medical school expansion aimed at addressing physician shortage - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
The University of New Mexico plans to significantly grow its medical school in the next 10 years, a move aimed at alleviating the state’s physician shortage.
The planned $600 million expansion would add a new on-campus facility, along with hundreds of hospital beds and staff positions.
University officials told the Legislative Finance Committee in Albuquerque on Tuesday the school plans to nearly double the number of students studying to become doctors and other health care professionals like physician assistants and physical therapists, adding an estimated 54 doctors a year to New Mexico’s workforce, according to an LFC report.
“We won’t close this gap just by education,” UNM Executive Vice President of Health Sciences Dr. Mike Richards told legislators. “We will have to have that as one of our primary strategies, but we’ll need to layer in other kinds of techniques to grow that workforce for our state.”
UNM has the state’s largest medical school and the only program issuing medical degrees. Though almost all UNM School of Medicine students are originally from New Mexico, the majority will leave the state to practice medicine after completing their training, according to the LFC report.
New Mexico ranks 32nd in the country for physicians per capita, and every county in the state, except the smallest, Los Alamos, has been federally designated a health professional shortage area, according to the Texas-based think tank Cicero Institute.
The state has also struggled for years to retain its workforce. Roughly 30% of primary care doctors either left the state, retired or stopped practicing from 2017 to 2021, according to the nonprofit think tank Think New Mexico.
Around half of New Mexico’s family physicians are age 55 or older and will retire in the next 10 years, per a report from the Robert Graham Center, a health care policy research organization based in Washington, D.C.
New Mexico has around 30% fewer medical students per capita than the national average, according to a university report.
To accommodate more students, UNM will construct a new building to replace the School of Medicine’s main facility, Reginald Heber Fitz Hall, which was built in 1967. Officials said the new building will be completed by 2030.
“We’re really not able to start growing the medical school class until we actually get a new, contemporary facility,” Richards said.
The state Legislature appropriated $30 million for the new School of Medicine, and the rest of the funding will come from a mix of state support, philanthropy and UNM capital funding, said UNM Health Sciences spokesperson Chris Ramirez.
The document projects the expansion will grow enrollment at the medical school — including health provider programs, medical students and residents — from 1,108 students in fiscal year 2026 to 2,191 by fiscal year 2035.
UNM graduates who stay to complete their residency at the university are around twice as likely to stay in New Mexico to practice medicine, according to university data.
Nationwide, about 54% of medical students stay in the same state where they completed residency training to practice, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The number of residents who stay in New Mexico after training is about 5% lower.
Students matched with residency programs using an algorithm that considers both applicant and program preferences.
“With these variables at play, we don’t have much control over who exactly will match into our residency slots,” Ramirez said.
Over the next decade, UNM will also expand patient care, adding doctors, staff and an additional 265 inpatient hospital beds, which will create an additional 200 residency and fellowship spots, according to the LFC report.
The additional faculty and staff for the expanded School of Medicine would increase the total operating costs for the School of Medicine from $724 million to roughly $1 billion, the report said. Revenue at the school is projected to increase from $734 million to around $964 million, officials said.
Legislative ed committee offers recommendations for improving New Mexico students’ math performance - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
Only about one in four New Mexico students are proficient in math, according to a Legislative Education Study Committee brief presented to members Thursday.
Members of the LESC met in Las Vegas last week on the New Mexico Highlands University campus. Thursday’s agenda included the topic of math proficiency in the state, which has remained steadily low. LESC Deputy Director Jessica Hathaway pointed out to lawmakers that this trend of low math proficiency in New Mexico is also evident across the country.
According to the brief, U.S. students’ math performance declined “significantly” between 2018 and 2022, while reading and science scores remained steady. The brief cites the Program for International Student Assessment, an assessment conducted internationally every three years that measures reading, math and science literacy of 15-year-olds.
The U.S. placed 26th out of 81 in the 2022 assessment, the most recently conducted, while the country placed sixth in reading and 10th in science.
“Math proficiency peaks in fifth grade in New Mexico, where we see a 32% proficiency rate. But you also see this line drop right after that point,” Hathaway said during the meeting. “By the end of middle school, in eighth grade, we see a 19% proficiency rate across all student groups. And by 11th grade, we see a 12% proficiency rate across all student groups.”
Hathaway detailed how other states in the country have started to address their own math systems through legislation and practice. Common threads include universal math screening at early ages to catch dyscalculia and other possible learning difficulties; intervention plans for at-risk students; high-quality learning materials; professional development and teacher preparation programs; and improving parent engagement.
She also pointed out that several of these components were included in Senate Bill 235, introduced by Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) during the recent session; however, the bill died in committee. At the time, the bill was described as a similar approach to math as structured literacy is to reading.
Sen. Gabriel Ramos (R-Silver City) asked whether there is a program or method of education for math that would mimic structured literacy. The LESC brief noted that there is not a universal “science of math” program.
“What we’re seeing is that states are actually having to create those training programs, so that’s what we mean whenever we say there’s not a clean science of math,” Hathaway said. “That being said, one part I do want to pull out is that there is a very, very substantial body of research about effective math instruction that can inform policy.”
The brief provided a list of recommendations for the state Legislature, the New Mexico Public Education Department, teacher preparation programs and school districts, which include the state codifying expectations for math instruction, screening and intervention; the PED revising teacher licensure requirements; preparation programs requiring math methods coursework for all licensure pathways; and districts investing in math coaches or interventionists and engaging parents as partners in students’ learning.
Soules, a former math teacher and chair of the LESC, said he was encouraged by the end of the discussion Thursday, “because it’s not something we dig into as we’re very, very focused on the reading side of things.”
Suspect arrested after University of New Mexico dorm shooting leaves 1 dead - By Susan Montoya Bryan and Matthew Brown, Associated Press
A shooting early Friday at a University of New Mexico dormitory killed a 14-year-old boy, wounded a 19-year-old and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of students and a campuswide search for the suspect, who has since been taken into custody.
University officials lifted a shelter in place order late Friday afternoon, saying there was still an active investigation and that the main campus in Albuquerque would remain closed. They said students were allowed to eat at the dining hall and return to their dorms but otherwise should avoid the crime scene.
New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said officers took a male suspect into custody about 2:30 p.m. John Fuentes, 18, was booked on the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence, according to the New Mexico State Police. Fuentes will be held without bond and remain in custody until his conditions of release are determined by the district court.
It was unclear whether Fuentes has legal representation. Police said they did not have any information on the suspect's representation. New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender will be looking at the case and getting Fuentes a legal representation team as soon as possible if he needs its representation, said spokesperson Maggie Shepard. An email was left with the public defender representing Fuentes during his arraignment Saturday.
Four people, including the suspect, were playing video games inside a dorm room belonging to one of them when the shooting began, Joseph Silva, chief of the University of New Mexico Police Department, said at a news conference.
The 14-year-old was fatally shot, and the others fled the room, Weisler said. A 19-year-old male sought treatment at a hospital and said he was shot on campus.
Authorities were investigating why the suspect fired a gun, Weisler said. Police were working with prosecutors to draft charging documents, he said.
Officials issued an initial alert just before 3:30 a.m. that a shooting had taken place. Another alert asking people to shelter in place was sent out just after 6 a.m. Police evacuated parts of the campus.
"We had a student orientation going so there were like 400 kids in dorms, so we wanted to make sure they were safe," said Lt. Tim Delgado with the University of New Mexico Police Department.
For much of the day, authorities had the area around the student housing complex cordoned off with yellow tape as police vehicles blocked roadways and investigators gathered.
Students shaken up by shooting
Mikey Beck, who was staying in student housing this week as part of new student orientation, said he heard gunshots overnight and saw what appeared to be an injured person hiding in some bushes. Two other people jumped out of a dorm window and ran, he said.
Beck said he was excited to start his freshman year but the incident was disconcerting.
"It's really sketchy out here. Just being in Albuquerque is really scary," he said.
Not far from the dorms, a line of university buses waited for students to board, many of them carrying backpacks and pulling small luggage carts with their belongings. The university was conducting a "staged, tactical evacuation," spokesperson Cinnamon Blair said in an emailed statement. People were told not to move without direction from campus police.
The university in central Albuquerque has about 23,000 students during the school year. New students like Beck have been visiting as part of scheduled orientations ahead of the fall semester, which begins in about three weeks.
An increased law enforcement presence on and around the campus was planned for coming days, university President Garnett Stokes said in a letter to the campus community.
"We understand this incident may be especially distressing for new students and their families who are here this week for orientation," Garnett wrote.
Mayor Tim Keller said his thoughts were with the victim's loved ones and the university community.
"We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of life that occurred" on the University of New Mexico campus, Keller said in a statement.
New Mexico has struggled with violent crime
New Mexico's largest city has struggled with violent crime in recent years, particularly among juveniles. District Attorney Sam Bregman, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, has called for state lawmakers to do more to address what he describes as a crisis.
"This is an absolute tragedy," Bregman said in a statement. "Once again, a child has lost their life at the hands of a teenager. The combination of teenagers and guns is a toxic and deadly mix — and we must do everything in our power to stop it."
The plea for legislative action comes amid violence in New Mexico involving young suspects, including a fatal hit-and-run in Albuquerque and a shooting in Las Cruces in March that killed three and wounded 15 others.
Prosecutors, law enforcement and Republican lawmakers have pressed Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to convene a special legislative session to address the state's crime problem. Despite voicing her disappointment with the Democratic-controlled Legislature at the end of the last session, the governor has not given recent indications that she will be calling lawmakers back to Santa Fe.
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Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
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This story corrects the first name of University of New Mexico Police Department Chief Joseph Silva.
Alec Baldwin talks his love for 'Peanuts' and the 'immeasurable' effects of his trial - By Andrew Dalton, AP Entertainment Writer
Alec Baldwin says the year since his trial suddenly ended with a dismissal has been far better than the few years that preceded it, and the affect that time has had on him has been "immeasurable."
"Something as powerful as that happens in your life, you don't know how much it changes you," he said. "I can't even tell you how different I am from three-and-a-half years ago. And what I want and what I don't want, and how I want to live my life and not live my life."
The 67-year-old actor spoke to The Associated Press at San Diego's Comic-Con International, where he was part of a panel on 75 years of Charles Schulz's "Peanuts," whose simplicity, existential philosophy and moral outlook have been very much on his mind.
Baldwin spoke while a suited Snoopy character stood nearby after posing for photos with him.
In a foreword Baldwin wrote for "The Complete Peanuts 1977-1978," he said while reading Schulz's newspaper comic strip every day as a child, he realized Charlie Brown, more than anyone, wanted the things he wanted.
Chief among those wants are "the desire to have friends and the desire to hold your friends close to you."
That hasn't changed in the years since.
"Come on, what man my age doesn't relate to Charlie Brown? If Charlie Brown was 67 years old, he'd be me, but he wouldn't have been stupid enough to have seven (small) children," he said with a laugh.
But he aspires to the qualities of a different character.
"Lucy. I want to be Lucy. Lucy is in charge. She's got it all figured out," he said. "She pauses for a moment of self-awareness, but not too long."
Baldwin said he admired Schulz's simple line drawings combined with the real circumstances of the characters, embodied by real children's voices when the animated holiday specials emerged in his childhood.
"It's so complicated and simple at the same time, which is what I think makes it beautiful," he said.
And he admired Schulz's willingness to embrace melancholy, and deeper darknesses, in stories about inner struggle that needed no villains.
"A dog sitting on top of a dog house would have the same impact on you as, like, Nietzsche," he said, looking across the room at Snoopy. "They should have named the dog Nietzsche."
Baldwin's career has had several distinct phases. Early on he played tough husbands and boyfriends in supporting roles including "Married to the Mob" and "Working Girl." He moved on to heroic leading man in "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Shadow."
Downshifting to memorable character parts, he showed his gift for manly speeches in "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "The Departed," and his comedy prowess in seven seasons of "30 Rock" and as a constant host and guest on "Saturday Night Live."
In July 2024 his trial in New Mexico on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western "Rust" fell apart halfway through. A judge dismissed the case on allegations authorities withheld evidence.
"I can't believe that happened on that day the way it happened," he said. "And it couldn't have been better for us in certain terms because of the malice and so forth and everything that's embodied in that whole situation."
The next phase is uncertain. He says he's "just trying to move forward with my wife and my family."
He and wife Hilaria and their seven small kids recently appeared on the TLC reality series "The Baldwins."
He says he has successfully sold his young ones on "Peanuts," especially the Halloween and Christmas specials, as he did with his now nearly 30-year-old daughter Ireland when she was young.
He notices their personalities zig-zagging between the traits of Schulz's characters.
"They're Charlie Brown, now they're Snoopy, now they're Schroeder, now they're Linus, now they're Pig-Pen," he said. "They're Pig-Pen most of the time, I must say."
And their house is full of themed toys.
He keeps a small Snoopy figure among the things in his office, a reminder to try to maintain "love, kindness, patience."
"Peanuts are still kind of like, in that zone," he said. "Let's just try to be good people."