North Dakota 85 (ND85)
Training North Dakotans, Serving North Dakota.
To better retain an adequate healthcare workforce for this century, North Dakota’s only comprehensive school of medicine and health sciences, is seeking a target of 85% for our medical and physician assistant applicants to have direct North Dakota ties by 2030.
Our goal is to get more North Dakota students to and through their healthcare education at UND as soon as possible.
Why?
Because North Dakota is facing a shortage of approximately 300 physicians today. If we do nothing, this number will grow.
By contrast, data indicates that most physicians end up practicing close to where they train during either medical school and/or their post-graduate medical residency. Our figures show that if a student receives their medical education and residency training within our state, there is a 75% chance they will stay in North Dakota.
This number increases if we recruit and train more students originally from North Dakota.
How we’re reaching North Dakota students
- Visit more N.D. high schools.
- Seek greater participation in N.D. Scrubs Camps and Academies.
- Establish even better partnerships with local healthcare institutions.
- Provide outreach to N.D. HOSA advisors and HOSA events.
- Increase partnership with UND undergraduate college advisors and N.D. pre-med groups.
- Establish and maintain a hometown ambassador database to help foster UND connections with local communities.
- Build stronger connections with influencers in students’ lives: teachers, counselors, and parents.
- Maintain support with our Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program, which
helps prepare Indigenous students for medical education.
Well on our way
Our efforts are already paying off! As of June 2026, 82% of our M.D. and P.A. Classes of 2030 are North Dakota students!