Posts Tagged

wynne

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 […]

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, […]

The SMHS annual Faculty Assembly has been set for 3 p.m. (Central) on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, via Zoom. Dr. Joshua Wynne, UND Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, will present the “State of the School Address,” and Dr. Colin Combs, Faculty Council (FC) Chair, will […]

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 […]

Yesterday UND sponsored a Town Hall meeting for faculty and staff to discuss the recent federal mandates for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccination. There was a productive “back and forth” discussion of the issues and implications for UND. Here’s a brief overview of what was discussed. There are three ways the Executive Order regarding vaccine requirements are […]

Recently, I attended the virtual retirement ceremony for Dr. Rick Vari, held October 29, 2021, by the Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) School of Medicine where Rick was the Senior Dean for Academic Affairs and a founding faculty member. Many of you will remember Rick when he was a faculty member here at the School before […]

This will be a shortened column because of the shorter week due to the Veterans Day holiday yesterday. I’ll begin with a tip of the hat to each of the countless military veterans who have dedicated at least a portion of their lives to the protection of the United States. Your sacrifices—large and small—on behalf […]

This past Tuesday, Dr. Don Warne, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, director of our Indians into Medicine (INMED) and public health programs, and chair of our newly established Department of Indigenous Health, testified in Washington, D.C., before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United States Senate. Dr. Warne got a […]

One week out from our annual continuing education symposium and I’m still in awe of the talent we’ve amassed here in North Dakota. Presenters from six different disciplines (from both UND and NDSU) gave six exceptional talks last week for our “Disrupting Aging” symposium, which, in the end, saw more than 100 participants-providers from across […]