UNLV medical school dean to step down
The dean of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV plans to step down on Friday, according to an email sent to faculty.
Marc Kahn will resign from his role as dean as well as from his position as vice president for health affairs and will return to faculty, according to the university. He will serve as chief of hematology in the department of internal medicine.
“Serving in this role has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life,” Kahn said in an email to faculty. “Together, we have advanced the mission of this school – improving health care in Southern Nevada, educating the next generation of physicians, and building a medical school and associated clinical practice that reflects the strength and resilience of this community.
Kahn’s leadership praised
UNLV has yet to name an interim dean or plan for the future. The resignation comes just over a month after UNLV’s president Keith Whitfield resigned. The university named Chris Heavey as the officer in charge as the university searches for a permanent leader.
Kahn joined the medical school at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.
“His leadership during this critical period ensured the continuity of education, research, and patient care in the face of extraordinary challenges,” Heavey wrote in an email to faculty.
The UNLV medical school welcomed its first class of students in 2017, and Kahn presided over the school’s first graduation ceremony at the medical school in 2021.
Before the medical school opened, Las Vegas was the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a MD-granting medical school.
Kahn led the school through receiving full Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation and opening the school’s first permanent facility: the Kirk Kerkorian Medical Educational Building.
Every graduating medical student has landed a job on Match Day, and students have scored at or above the mean on national board exams, Heavey wrote in the email. (Match Day is the annual event where graduating medical students learn the residency program for which they have been matched.)
Making strides
Research expenditures also have increased and the school received money for two endowed chairs. The school also opened two no-cost care clinics for Clark County School District students and developed a free clinic program for Southern Nevadans in need, Heavey wrote.
During Kahn’s tenure, the school’s medical student class size increased by 10 percent and expanded graduate medical education with programs in forensic pathology, forensic psychiatry, rheumatology and hematology/medical oncology.
Kahn is trained as a hematologist and medical oncologist. Prior to joining UNLV, he was senior associate dean at Tulane University School of Medicine, according to UNLV’s web page.
He completed his undergraduate degree, medical school, residency, chief medical residency and hematology/medical oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected into Alpha Omega Alpha.
He obtained his master’s in business administration with honors from the AB Freeman School of Business at Tulane in 2010.
“I want to thank Dr. Kahn for his passion and leadership over the past five years as dean. His vision, resilience, and commitment to excellence have positioned the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine for continued success, and we are grateful for his ongoing dedication to our mission as he transitions back to the faculty,” Heavey wrote.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.
