Over the past year and a half, I’ve written a variety of columns about the impact of the pandemic on the School and how our faculty, staff, and students have risen to the attendant challenges. Today I’d like to address some health aspects of the pandemic itself and focus onRead More

Here’s an update on the review process for the next Associate Dean for Administration and Finance (A&F) at the UND SMHS. As you may recall, Dr. Judy Solberg, chief of staff in the Office of the Dean, has been doing phenomenal service in overseeing operations in A&F since the departureRead More

One of the important ways in which we monitor the health of our research enterprise is by measuring the growth of external funding – often from the federal government – that supports the efforts of the School’s many investigators and staff. To be sure, the amount of funding is whatRead More

Two esteemed physicians associated with our renowned Indians into Medicine (INMED) program were recognized this week for their service to medicine and efforts to achieve greater social justice. Dr. Judith Kaur of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Florida, and one of the first matriculants in the INMED program, wasRead More

Although medical and other students have matriculated already, the bulk of UND students are returning to campus for the start of the fall semester on Monday. I know that all of us had anticipated a more normal start to the fall semester, but the delta variant has changed that. Accordingly,Read More

The rapidly evolving pandemic situation has been a major focus of attention as we gear up for the return of the majority of students – especially undergraduates – to the UND campus in a little over a week (of course, some SMHS students already are on campus and have beenRead More

We have a new academic department at the UND SMHS – and a world-first to boot! To the best of our knowledge, the School now boasts the first Department of Indigenous Health. Although the new department will not be directly responsible for a specific course, it will provide a homeRead More

I’m so tired of the pandemic and its impact on all of us! I’ll bet you feel the same way. And yet several events this week demonstrated that despite our collective pandemic fatigue, annoyance, and – yes – anger, the pandemic unfortunately isn’t done with us yet, due in largeRead More

Our burgeoning public health program, under the leadership of Dr. Don Warne, has achieved yet another milestone – a dual degree offering with UND’s School of Law. Although there are other universities that offer similar dual degree programs, our new program is the only one of its kind in theRead More

This has been the first full week of study for the medical student class of 2025. Susan and I hosted a Welcome Reception for the class on Wednesday, but yet again this year it was virtual. Yesterday, the School hosted Family Day for the families of the students and IRead More

Yesterday marks the start of the new academic (and fiscal) year for the School and UND. It is the official marker of the transition from one year to the next, and there are multiple transitions that are occurring. Some folks are leaving, and many are arriving. Among those to whomRead More

I’m proud of the efforts and outcomes of the School’s various initiatives to promote diversity in our student ranks. We have identified rural background and American Indian heritage as our two focus areas for medical student diversity, and the results of our efforts have been impressive. Rural medical student enrollmentRead More

In past columns I’ve commented on the challenges presented by the pandemic, of course, and also the hard work that is ongoing to prepare for several upcoming accreditation visits of various educational programs at the UND SMHS. An additional heavy lift has been the extraordinary efforts by faculty, staff, andRead More

Next week promises to be an especially busy week for me personally, as I will be participating (albeit virtually) in the June meeting of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accreditation body for U.S. medical schools. As I’ve mentioned before, the LCME is comprised of 19 members, 15Read More

An interesting and informative article was just published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). It deals with the challenges and successes of four minority students and the impact of various programs aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medical schools across the country. One of ourRead More