UND welcomes M.D. Class of 2029, distributes white coats and stethoscopes

Color Kaleb Card very impressed.

Two weeks in at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences and the first-year medical student is loving how team-oriented his medical training has been to date.

Faculty have “really emphasized the importance of working together and how medicine requires teamwork throughout the care of every patient,” acknowledged Card, one of more than 70 first-year students in UND’s M.D. Class of 2029.

“Not just working with other physicians but also individuals of other medical specialties. We have time just about every day when we work in small groups to learn how to solve problems or help teach each other concepts.”

Card is referring to the School’s award-winning patient-centered learning (PCL) curriculum, which emphasizes case-based team training wherein students of different programs actively help teach each other biomedical, diagnostic, and therapeutic concepts.

“We are all striving towards a common goal – patient care – but none of us really knows all there is to know about how to get there yet. All we know is that it will take a lot of time, teamwork, and effort,” continued Card, who does know one thing: he has wanted to be a physician since fourth grade. “Every day, I strive to make at least one person’s day one percent better. If I am able to do that, then I’ve helped someone every day and will reach thousands of people throughout my practice and my life.”

‘Never been happier’

UND medical students’ first week is dedicated to orientation, including an introduction to UND’s nationally recognized, four-year, PCL curriculum where biomedical and clinical sciences are taught in the context of an inter-professional setting. Special emphasis is placed on students’ new roles and expectations of them as health professionals.

Orientation week concluded with a White Coat Ceremony last Friday, wherein Card and his classmates recited the Oath of Hippocrates and received their first white coats, which were provided by donors to the School and subsequently personalized by the North Dakota Medical Association.

Posing for a picture in her white coat at the ceremony, Wisconsin native Nina Johnson almost had to pinch herself.

“The first 10 days of medical school have been nothing short of amazing!” gushed Johnson, who earned her undergraduate degree from UND and worked as a standardized patient in the School’s Simulation Center. “This is truly all I have ever wanted to do in life, and I have never been happier. I am excited to start my days early in the morning, excited to come to school, and excited to learn new material. I feel more motivated than ever and know that UND is and always will be my perfect fit.”

Although she pledges to remain open-minded, Johnson said that where specialization is concerned, her “heart lies in obstetrics and gynecology,” specifically reproductive endocrinology.

“Ob/Gyn is a very vibrant specialty because while 100 women may have the same ‘diagnosis’ – pregnancy – each of them are experiencing that diagnosis very differently.”

Drinking from a firehose

Ranging in age from 20 to 32 years, and with an average age of 23, the vast majority of this year’s entering students are from North Dakota and Minnesota. The cohort comes to UND’s medical school with experience in an array of fields, including anthropology, biochemistry, biology, biomedical engineering, business administration, chemistry, computer science, finance, health studies, mechanical engineering, medical laboratory science, neuroscience, nursing, physics, psychology, and theatre arts.

Some of these first-year students already hold advanced degrees, including graduate degrees in histotechnology, physiology, and public health.

“The White Coat Ceremony is always meaningful for our medical students,” added Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, dean of the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and UND’s vice president for Health Affairs. “You can feel how excited everyone is to be here – including students’ families.”

Explaining how this year’s students represent UND’s fifty-first official M.D. class, Jenkins thanked White Coat Ceremony keynote speaker Dr. Pat Moore, who graduated with UND’s first M.D. cohort in 1976.

“Fifty years is an incredible milestone,” said Jenkins. “We certainly wouldn’t be where we are without the support of so many groups and individuals across North Dakota, including legislators, clinical faculty, and alumni like Dr. Moore. This is the people’s medical school and we take our mission of improving the lives of all North Dakotans very seriously.”

Founded in 1905, the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is North Dakota’s only medical college. It also represents the most comprehensive collection of health sciences programs in the state, graduating more than 300 physicians, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists, medical lab scientists, athletic trainers, researchers, and public and Indigenous health professionals annually.

Since establishing its four-year M.D. program 50 years ago, the School has worked hard to help North Dakota “grow its own” healthcare providers. This has meant not only recruiting students primarily from the state but partnering with the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and area health systems on initiatives designed to retain graduates for practice in North Dakota.

It was one of these initiatives that caught LaMoure, N.D., native Donnie Bentz’s eye.

Calling the School’s Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) and RuralMed tuition waiver programs “very appealing,” Bentz confessed to an interest in rural medicine.

“Becoming involved in the community was incredibly fulfilling during my undergraduate study, and doing something similar at the med school level with a program like ROME is one of my priorities, and part of what drew me to UND,” said Bentz, who is considering a variety of specializations. “I went to my undergrad out-of-state, but I was born here and graduated high school here. Even though a large chunk of my life was spent outside [North Dakota], I’m still a small-town kind of person at heart.”

Characterizing his first few weeks of medical school as akin to “drinking from a firehose” – “They weren’t joking about information overload!” he said – Bentz smiled at the challenge ahead.

“The sine qua non for a medical student is studying, but it seems to be more of a constant and consistent review of material compared to undergrad studying,” he acknowledged. “It’s essential that we don’t try to learn all of the content because it is simply impossible considering the high volume of material. So gleaning a majority of the content in large overviews so we can later apply it to clinical settings is crucial.”

And it’s challenge Bentz is looking forward to facing.

The UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences M.D. Class of 2029:

• Lutfi Abu-Shanab, Rochester Hills, Mich.
• John Ackerman, Bennington, Neb.
• Zaid Ahmed, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Grant Anderson, Bismarck, N.D.
• Abigail Andrews, Waconia, Minn.
• Zachary Bassett, West Fargo, N.D.
• Donovan Bentz, LaMoure, N.D.
• Ethan Bergeman, Foreman, N.D.
• Skye Bernstein, Weed, Calif.
• Hailey Bjerke, Fargo, N.D.
• Dawson Blankenship, Slayton, Minn.
• Jacob Bohl, Minot, N.D.
• Jordan Borgeson, Rochester, Minn.
• Galen Brantley, Soldotna, Ak.
• Leokadia Bring, Strandquist, Minn.
• Ian Broxmeyer, Bismarck, N.D.
• Therese Byankuba, Fargo, N.D.
• Kaleb Card, Fargo, N.D.
• Manya Chaturvedi, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Bo Claymore, Prior Lake, Minn.
• Paige Deltener, Hawley, Minn.
• Nicholas Devine, Bismarck, N.D.
• Elizabeth Fedorchak, Bismarck, N.D.
• Charlene Geraci, Fargo, N.D.
• Liam Ghahreman, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
• Jill Goodman, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Tyler Hackman, Sioux Falls, S.D.
• Samuel Hafner, Green Bay, Wis.
• Cole Herbel, Bismarck, N.D.
• Sarah Jackson, Clare, Mich.
• Christina Johnson, Deerfield, Wis.
• Srikrishna Kandooru, Bismarck, N.D.
• Rhaegan Kiland, Fargo, N.D.
• Andrew Kluzak, Naperville, Ill.
• Lea Kobrossy, West Fargo, N.D.
• Caroline Kotarski, Hinsdale, Ill.
• Mitchell Krings, Fargo, N.D.
• Sydney Langemo, Shakopee, Minn.
• Riley Lauzon, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Sean LeRoux, Stillwater, Minn.
• Bryn Lien, Havre, Mont.
• Ashlea Lindseth, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Aaron Lopez-Evje, Dundas, Minn.
• Mason Maier, Bismarck, N.D.
• Michaela Mastrud, West Fargo, N.D.
• Blake Matejcek, Wahpeton, N.D.
• Katelyn Matter, Fargo, N.D.
• Jared Maul, West Fargo, N.D.
• Chantz Mehus, Mayville, N.D.
• Fatima Mohammed, Fargo, N.D.
• Luke Murdoff, Bismarck, N.D.
• Regina Nguyen, West Fargo, N.D.
• Tanner Nielsen, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Sydney Olson, Fargo, N.D.
• Benjamin Ostlie, Fargo, N.D.
• Autumn Paluck, Dickinson, N.D.
• Jack Pelzel, St. Joseph, Minn.
• Pooja Potluri, West Fargo, N.D.
• Mansib Rahman, West Fargo, N.D.
• Benjamin Reuter, St. Cloud, Minn.
• Samuel Roller, Thompson, N.D.
• Thomas Rumpza, St. Paul, Minn.
• Tanner Schaff, Fargo, N.D.
• Grace Schirrick, Hawley, Minn.
• Mya Shorter, Bemidji, Minn.
• Stacie Shropshire, Maple Grove, Minn.
• Christine Stayman, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Kyle Thompson, Oakes, N.D.
• Emily Tiongson-Hook, Fargo, N.D.
• Lynn Vick, Minot, N.D.
• Lucas Weigel, Bismarck, N.D.
• Tanner Whelan, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
• William Wilson, Woodbury, Minn.
• Autumn Wuebben, Woodbury, Minn.
• Tyler Yanez, Bismarck, N.D.
• Benjamin Zandstra, Lino Lakes, Minn.