UND tops nation for percentage of grads choosing family medicine

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the top medical school in the country for producing family medicine physicians, according to rankings released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Ranking first among the country’s 132 accredited medical schools, UND earned the Achievement Award from the AAFP, which recognizes outstanding schools that, during a three-year period, graduate the greatest percentage of graduates who choose family medicine.

Based on a three-year average, for the period ending October 2009, over 20 percent of UND’s graduates have entered an accredited family medicine residency program. The overall U.S. match rate for family medicine this year is 7.9 percent, according to the AAFP. Other regional schools recognized by the AAFP were the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota, with 16.9 percent, and the University of Minnesota Medical School, with 16.3 percent.

“We are very pleased to be recognized as the nation’s most effective medical school in encouraging students to pursue the specialty of family medicine,” said Joshua Wynne, senior executive vice president for health affairs and interim dean of the UND medical school. “We are working hard to address North Dakota’s need for physicians and other health care workers, especially those in the field of family medicine.”

According to Robert Beattie, chair of the school’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, “The AAFP Achievement Award recognizes the results of the quality education and training our students receive from exceptionally talented family physicians throughout the state.”

“This honor recognizes the efforts of UND and our practicing physician-faculty members to present family medicine as a fulfilling career.  It’s particularly important because family physicians are critical to the provision of quality health care services, especially in the rural areas of North Dakota,” said Beattie. The award was presented last month at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine annual spring conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The UND medical school has several unique programs designed to educate students about the benefits of family medicine. The nationally recognized Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program places third-year medical students in several rural communities in North Dakota for a seven-month rotation.

For more than 15 years, the Students/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) program has provided health profession students an opportunity to spend a month working in interdisciplinary teams in rural North Dakota communities.

The AAFP Top Ten Achievement Awards recognize medical schools for the exceptional role in advocating for the specialty of family medicine. These awards were created to promote the goal of having more U.S. medical school graduates enter family medicine each year.

— Denis MacLeod, assistant director, Office of Alumni and Community Relations, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 777-2733, dmacleod@medicine.nodak.edu.