Medical Curriculum within Education Resources

We prepare graduates to be competent, caring, and compassionate physicians who have the skills of lifelong, self-directed learning necessary to incorporate new knowledge and methods into their practice and to adapt to a changing professional environment.

Community-Based Medical School

Medical education should aspire to serve the common good and to respond to the changing health care needs of individuals and societies. Because the SMHS is a community-based medical school, and because of the unique circumstances of our regional location, we place special emphasis on the unique skills needed to provide care for patients and populations in rural and Native American communities across all competencies. In the context of achieving and demonstrating these competencies, students should also be able to identify, analyze, and manage health problems effectively, efficiently, professionally, and humanistically.

Four Year Program

Students enrolling at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences generally earn their M.D. degree after four years of study. The first two years of study take place on the Grand Forks campus and are focused on basic sciences and clinical skills. At the end of the second year, students complete Step 1 of the national licensing exam.

During the third year, students are assigned to clinical rotations on one of four campuses: Bismarck, Fargo, Minot or Grand Forks.

All students complete seven clerkships during the year: family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery and a research project. Clerkships on the Minot campus are completed through a longitudinal curriculum.

Students spend their fourth year at one of four campuses - Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck and Minot. A fourth year surgical course (4 weeks) is required as well as seven electives. By the end of the fourth year, students complete both parts of the Step 2 national licensing exam.

COMPETENCIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION

About Education Resources

Education Resources is an administrative unit of the School of Medicine & Health Sciences charged with developing, administering and evaluating the medical education programs of the School.

Education Resources implements educational policies approved by the Medical Curriculum Committee (MCC). It provides a wide range of educational services and consultations to faculty and students, including faculty development, management of standardized patients for the curriculum, assessment and test item banking, and program evaluation. It also promotes education research, focusing on patient-centered learning in medical education and performance-based assessment of professional competence.