UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences announces administrative faculty promotions
The Dean’s Office at UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) is pleased to announce the promotion of administrative faculty across multiple units.
Moving into the role of Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences is Dave Relling, P.T., Ph.D. The former chair of UND’s Department of Physical Therapy, Relling has been with the School since 1996. This title gives Relling responsibility for all non-medical training programs at the SMHS, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, medical laboratory science, athletic training, and the School’s programs in population health and public health.
“The health sciences programs at the SMHS have excellent leadership, faculty, staff, and students,” Relling said. “The interprofessional and collaborative educational opportunities prepare graduates to be knowledgeable, compassionate, and effective healthcare providers for North Dakota and the nation. I am honored to step into the role of Senior Associate Dean to support the department chairs and programs as they serve the people of North Dakota through education, research, and service.”
A veteran clinical professor in the SMHS Department of Pediatrics, Susan Zelewski, M.D., has been named Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME) for North Dakota’s only comprehensive school of medicine and health sciences. After serving as the School’s Assistant Dean for Phase 2/3 and Associate Dean for Clinical Medical Education for years, Zelewski is expanding her portfolio to focus on the School’s many post-graduate medical residency and fellowship programs.
“I am excited to start this new role as Associate Dean for GME and for the exploration and learning it brings,” said Zelewski. “I look forward to the opportunity to continue contributing to our School’s efforts to expand healthcare for the people of North Dakota in a new setting.”
Housed in communities across North Dakota, these residency and fellowship programs, which can run from one to seven years, provide physicians with advanced training in their chosen medical specialty. UND manages residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, surgery (including orthopedic surgery), pediatric medicine, and a transitional year program. UND also coordinates in-state fellowship programs in cardiovascular medicine, geriatrics, hospitalist medicine, hematology-oncology, forensic pathology, and surgical critical care.
Down the road in Fargo, Dinesh Bande, M.D., M.B.A., chair of the School’s Fargo-based Department of Internal Medicine, has been named Associate Dean for Academic & Clinical Integration. In this role, Bande will focus on building collaboration between academic institutions like UND and clinical teams within the state’s many health systems to drive better health outcomes. By aligning education, research, and practice, the new position will help bridge gaps between evidence-based care and population health, while fostering innovation and excellence in healthcare delivery.
“At the SMHS, one of our key goals is to shape a future workforce—and upskill current professionals—by promoting partnerships between academic organizations and teaching health systems focused on value-based care principles,” noted Bande, referencing a new UND initiative called Learners Improving Value Equation (UND LIVE). “This initiative aims to embed health system sciences—including quality and safety, patient-centered care, utilization management, clinical documentation integrity, population and public health, clinical informatics, artificial intelligence, leadership, and policy and advocacy—into both medical and graduate medical education. I am humbled and honored to have the unique opportunity to collaborate and further our School’s purpose.”
With Zelewski’s promotion, Jennifer Peterson, M.D., pediatric clerkship director for the SMHS Northeast Campus, has been named Assistant Dean for Phase 2/3 at the SMHS. In this role, Peterson will travel to clinical sites within North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota to bolster the School’s clinical curriculum by establishing or expanding clinical preceptor sites for third- and fourth-year medical students. She will also lead the student education initiatives related to the residency interview, help coordinate the application and residency match process for graduating students, and play an active role in efforts to gather and respond to student feedback, serving as a student advisor.
“I am looking forward to working closely with medical students in their final two phases of medical school,” said Peterson, a pediatrician at Altru Health System in Grand Forks. “They are bright individuals who work hard and impress me every day. I am also very excited to work with other clinical faculty across the state and region.”
