Purpose, Strategic Plan & Diversity Statement

The primary purpose of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences is to educate physicians and other health professionals and to enhance the quality of life in North Dakota. Other purposes include the discovery of knowledge that benefits the people of this state and enhances the quality of their lives.

The University of North Dakota and its School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) takes pride in their mission to meet the individual and group needs of a diverse and pluralistic society through education, research, and service. The peoples served by and associated with the SMHS vary widely; all are valued for the richness their different cultures, heritages, perspectives, and ideas bring to the community. The SMHS is, in part, a conduit through which individual perspectives and global interrelationships are enhanced by a working, learning and teaching environment that is aware of and sensitive to the diversity of its constituents. Diversity in the SMHS is constituted by the full participation of persons of different racial and ethnic heritage, age, gender, socio-economic background, religion, sexual orientation and disability; and of people from other countries. Of special and particular importance is the SMHS's longstanding commitment to the education of American Indian students and the cultures and traditions of the American Indian people. In addition, the SMHS commitment to diversity extends to students from rural America, in particular those from North Dakota, Minnesota, and states in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) consortium. Furthermore, the SMHS embraces its international student population as they enhance the culturally rich learning environment of campus. The SMHS is committed to providing working, learning and teaching experiences that promote self-determination, educational advantages, and professional opportunities.