Posts Categorized

From the Dean

Susan and I recently “attended” (virtually) the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (called ACC22) that was held in Washington, D.C., from April 2-4. It was a hybrid event, with a moderate number of in-person attendees and a fair number online (like Susan and me). I spent a total of 18 hours participating […]

As one of UND’s vice presidents, I had the pleasure to be part of the interview team that visited with the four outstanding final candidates who are under consideration for the deanship at the UND School of Law to follow Dean Mike McGinnis, who is stepping down in June. I enjoyed chatting with all of […]

As I mentioned in last week’s column, last Friday was Match Day for our graduating medical students. The vast majority of them matched in a residency that they will start after graduation, and in which they will learn their chosen specialty over the next three to five years. Most matched with their first choice or […]

Today is Match Day! At noon today (EDT), some 42,000 medical students across the U.S. and indeed the world – and especially our own UND SMHS senior medical students – will learn where they will be doing their residency training following graduation from medical school. Residency training is required for state licensure, and lasts from […]

As I mentioned in last week’s column, we met with Governor Burgum and his executive leadership team yesterday as part of a strategic review process that is utilized by the Governor and the executive branch to plan for North Dakota’s future. First, President Armacost, accompanied by the university’s vice presidents, presented on behalf of UND […]

This past Wednesday I had the privilege of delivering the annual “State of the School” address at the Faculty Assembly. It was (again) a virtual event and we had great turnout, with over 100 individuals participating. I outlined my assessment of where we are as a school, and, importantly, where we hope to go in […]

Most institutions of higher learning share three core values in their missions – education, discovery (that is, research, scholarship, and creative activities), and service to the community. As I’ve indicated previously, what is somewhat unique about the UND SMHS is that our purpose as a school is defined in North Dakota Century Code, the codified […]

Earlier this week we had a mock visit to help prepare us for the accreditation visit for our medical student program that will occur in April. Like that forthcoming visit, this practice session was done virtually. We contracted with a group of former medical school deans who help schools prepare for their accreditation visits by […]

Early this past Tuesday morning, I observed something that struck me as typical North Dakota while I drove down our local street. We and our neighbors had put out our recycling bins at the end of our driveways the night before so that the collection truck could use its mechanical arm to tip the recycling […]

This has been an exciting week of recognition for a number of high-performing students and faculty at the School. I’ve often said that it’s really the people that make schools and programs great, beyond “just” great facilities and support services like information technology, dining services, human resources, and maintenance services. Well, we have outstanding faculty, […]

Last week I discussed the changing landscape around the globe due to the omicron variant. Unfortunately, this week I need to update that overview with comments about the burgeoning impact of omicron locally across North Dakota. We have seen a rapid increase in cases statewide, with increasing numbers of new cases over the past week. […]

As we enter the third calendar year of SARS-CoV-2 (ugh), I see storm clouds close by, and the real possibility of brighter skies by the spring. First to the storm clouds. The omicron variant, as you know, is highly contagious and spreading very rapidly. The chart above is from the Financial Times and shows the […]

Welcome “back” and Happy New Year! It’s a cliché to say that those of us in leadership positions stand on the shoulders of giants, but in the case of Dr. Robert Eelkema, it’s absolutely true. As you may have heard, the UND SMHS family lost Bob last week at age 91. He was a giant […]

On Wednesday we held our annual Holiday Party, and as with last year, it was a virtual event. But unlike last year the attendance was modest and down from last year. We suspect that this modest turnout was a reflection of our “pandemic/virtual meeting fatigue” and, interestingly enough, may have been a demonstration of one […]

This past Tuesday was notable in two regards. Most important of course is that it was the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The other event of note is that a federal court stopped (at least temporarily) the implementation of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccination mandate for employees working on federal contracts. Since […]