Mary Ann Sens named president of National Association of Medical Examiners
Mary Ann Sens professor and chair of Pathology at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), has been elected president of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME).
NAME is the national professional organization of physician medical examiners, medical death investigators and death investigation system administrators who perform the official duties of the medicolegal investigation of deaths of public interest in the United States. It has over 1,000 members, both in the United States and internationally. NAME is recognized as the premier professional organization of forensic pathologists and death investigators.
Sens has been chair of UND Pathology since 2002. She is certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Forensic Pathology and licensed to practice medicine in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and South Carolina.
In addition to her work at UND, Sens serves as the Grand Forks County Coroner and is the medical examiner for Marshall, Kittson, Red Lake and Mahnomen counties in Minnesota. She participates in numerous professional organizations, has served on the Fellows Council and Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as well as serving on several committees for the College of American Pathologists, Renal Pathology Society and the Association of Pathology Chairs. She was recently appointed to the Federal Interagency Working Group in Forensic Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation.
In national medical and health science education activities, Sens has previously served on the Step 1 Standard Setting Evaluation Panel for the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) and is currently on the Step 1 USMLE Pathology and Genetics Test Committee. She is also on the review panel for the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science (NAACLS), which sets program standards and accreditation approval for graduate and undergraduate programs in clinical laboratory science, histotechnology, pathology assistants, diagnostic molecular scientists, cytogenetics, phlebotomy, and clinical assistant programs in the United States. Sens is also active in UMEDS, the pathology medical education committee for the Association of Pathology Chairs. Locally, Sens has served on the Internal Advisory Board for the Indians Into Medicine program (INMED), has chaired the Student Performance and Recognition Committee, and served on the University Senate.
Sens has excelled in the areas of research, teaching, and service. She has published over 110 scientific articles, written numerous national continuing medical education modules in pathology, authored five book chapters and received sustained extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Institute of Justice, and other non-federal entities. Because of her tremendous efforts in all these areas, she has earned the UND Foundation/McDermott Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity and Service.
Sens provides an average of 23 lectures in basic and clinical science to the medical students in the first two years of the curriculum, as well as several lab sessions. Her support of virtual slide technology in medical and health science education has led to one of the largest collections of virtual slides for education in the nation. In addition, she has served as the wrap-up physician for several cases within the medical curriculum. Her skills as a teacher have been recognized with nine Outstanding Block Instructor Awards at the SMHS, and she’s made sure UND is in the forefront of medical and health science education.
— Denis MacLeod, assistant director, Office of Alumni and Community Relations, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 777-2733, denis.macleod@med.und.edu.
