UNR Med’s Dr. Bronander honored as NCET Educator of the Year

RENO, Nev. — NCET — Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology — recently announced Kirk Bronander, M.D., professor and medical director of simulation at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med), as the 2018 Educator of the Year.

Dr. Bronander’s recognition symbolizes the quality education that is essential to the success of medical students becoming tomorrow’s leading physicians, and the foundation of UNR Med’s educational system.

“Dr. Bronander embodies the best of medical education,” said UNR Med Dean, Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D. “He uses the highest of technologies to teach the most personal of physical examination and clinical skills, all combined with a dedication to the learner.  He is an exceptional educator and innovator.”

Bronander splits his time teaching internal medicine to UNR Med medical students in the classroom and the School’s high fidelity simulation lab, and at Renown Regional Medical Center where he is a patient care physician educator teaching resident physicians at the bedside.

He is an early adopter and advocate of using technology in his teaching. As the medical director of simulation at UNR Med, Bronander uses state-of-the-art mannequins to imitate real life clinical scenarios, teaching medical students how to care for patients facing life-threatening situations including heart attacks, opioid overdoses and more.

“We don’t expect pilots to fly without simulation. We shouldn’t expect our doctors to practice without simulation either,” said Bronander.

Bronander serves on the national editorial board of Simulated Patients in Internal Medicine, as well as the Simulated Internal Medicine Patient Learning Experience Committee, where he is involved with creating virtual patient cases for medical students across the country.

He also serves as UNR Med’s internal medicine clerkship director where he is responsible for the curriculum and evaluation of student rotations and directs the Clinical Reasoning in Medicine course, a mandatory third-year medical school class for third-year medical students.