UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences to celebrate fiftieth Doctor of Medicine Commencement with new physicians
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) will confer the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree on graduating medical students in a Commencement Ceremony to be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, at UND’s Chester Fritz Performing Arts Center.
Along with UND President Andrew Armacost, Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, vice president for health affairs and dean of the SMHS, will preside over this fiftieth Doctor of Medicine graduation event.
“This anniversary means a lot to our School and is representative of the trust placed in us by North Dakotans to provide a healthcare workforce that takes care of them and their families,” noted Jenkins. “Today, half of all physicians in this state are SMHS alumni, as are three out of four family practice doctors. The hope and promise that the people of North Dakota invested in us 50 years ago, when we became a four-year M.D. program, are embodied in this class of amazing students.”
Students in the graduating Class of 2025 have completed four years of medical education to earn their M.D. degree. This training begins with twenty months of instruction on the UND campus in Grand Forks followed by more than two years of training with practicing physicians who volunteer to serve as their teachers in hospitals and clinics throughout North Dakota.
The ceremony’s keynote address, “From student to doctor: More than just a piece of paper,” will be given by Lauren N. Huddle, M.D., clinical assistant professor in the School’s Department of Pathology.
Following graduation, members of the M.D. Class of 2025 will begin a post-graduate residency, a three- to seven-year period of advanced intensive training in their chosen medical specialty, before beginning independent practice.
In keeping with tradition, nearly half of UND’s graduating medical students are entering the primary care residencies in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. UND also saw residency matches for a variety of other specialties, including anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, otolaryngology, psychiatry, urology, surgery (including neurosurgery), and a whopping ten radiology matches.
“We are so proud of each of these students,” added Jenkins. “They’ve worked hard for this moment and we’re all continuing to work hard meet this School’s purpose: To serve North Dakota, for the benefit of its people, and to improve the quality of their lives.”
To that end, added Jenkins, eleven graduates are entering residencies in North Dakota.
One such student looking to stay in North Dakota to practice is Bismarck native Lauren Hollingsworth, who matched into UND’s own Psychiatry Residency Training Program in Fargo, N.D.
“I really like the flexibility of psychiatry – the practice location and patient population,” Hollingsworth said. “I love the ability to explore reproductive or child psychiatry. There are fewer than ten adolescent and child psychiatrists in North Dakota, so we need more.”
View a complete list of the graduates, their hometowns, and their residency programs here.
The fiftieth UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences M.D. Commencement can be viewed live online on May 3 at: www.youtube.com/live/UPFyn8t-bZ4.
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Brian James Schill
Director, Office of Alumni & Community Relations
UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences
701.777.6048 direct | 701.777.4305 office
brian.schill@UND.edu | www.UND.edu