UND celebrates fifty-first Doctor of Medicine Commencement Ceremony
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) conferred the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree on nearly 70 graduating medical students at UND’s Chester Fritz Performing Arts Center this past weekend.
Along with UND President Andrew Armacost, Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, vice president for Health Affairs and dean of the SMHS, presided over this fifty-first Doctor of Medicine graduation event.
Providing the ceremony’s keynote speech was North Dakota Lieutenant Governor Michelle Strinden, a UND graduate whose late husband Tom Strinden, M.D., was a clinical faculty member of the School who helped introduce UND medical students to the highly specialized practice of ophthalmology (the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease).
“Tom’s life’s work was never just restoring sight – it was helping people feel truly seen. He understood that vision meant more than eyesight. It meant independence, dignity, and hope,” said Strinden as she invited UND’s newest physicians to help North Dakota become the healthiest state in the U.S. “Our state indeed faces real challenges, provider shortages, mental health needs, aging populations, and communities that depend on a single clinic or hospital to survive. Remember this: your work strengthens not only individual lives, but the very fabric of our communities. Healthy communities are safer, more resilient, more prosperous. And more hopeful. And you are now the stewards of that hope.”
Students in the graduating Class of 2026 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 serve as teachers in hospitals and clinics throughout North Dakota.
Following graduation, members of the M.D. Class of 2026 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 the graduating M.D. class is entering the primary care specialties of family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. UND also saw matches for a variety of other specialties, including anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, geriatrics, neurology, occupational/environmental medicine, otolaryngology (or "ear, nose, and throat"), pathology, psychiatry, surgery (including neurosurgery and orthopedic), and radiology.
“We are so proud of each of these students,” added Jenkins, noting how the majority of the M.D. Class of 2026 received one of their top choices for residency training. “They’ve worked hard for this moment and we’re all continuing to work hard to meet our School’s purpose: To serve North Dakota, for the benefit of its people, and to improve the quality of their lives.”
UND Class of 2026 Medical Doctorate graduates:
- Carissa Amundson, Moorhead, Minn.
- Emily Anderson, Bismarck, N.D.
- Gretchen Anderson, Grand Forks, N.D.
- Kajsa Anderson, Sebeka, Minn.
- Matthew Anderson, Apple Valley, Minn.
- Noah Antes, Rochester, Minn.
- Alexa Asplund, Blaine, Minn.
- Jaelyn Baisch, St. Paul, Minn.
- Chloe Bakkum, Moorhead, Minn.
- George Beddow, Billings, Mont.
- Autumn Bertch, Carson, N.D.
- Michael Burd, Grand Forks, N.D.
- Mathew Bushey, Hermantown, Minn.
- Whitney Carriveau, Mankato, Minn.
- Nolan Christenson, Alexandria, Minn.
- Claire Diede, Lakeville, Minn.
- Elizabeth Driscoll, Glyndon, Minn.
- Henry Elsenpeter, Circle Pines, Minn.
- Bailey Engesether, Bagley, Minn.
- Devin Evavold, East Grand Forks, Minn.
- Zachary Even, Wyndmere, N.D.
- Annie Ferguson, Snohomish, Wash.
- William Fleck, Mandan, N.D.
- Miriah Forness, West Fargo, N.D.
- Delton Gabel, Fargo, N.D.
- Jack Gibbons, Fargo, N.D.
- Connor Griffin, Fargo, N.D.
- Rachel Guyer, Rochester, Minn.
- Wyatt Hahn, Hutchinson, Minn.
- Carson Herbert, Thompson, N.D.
- Phillip Hoffarth, Shakopee, Minn.
- Mercedes Hoffner, Omaha, Neb.
- Elizabeth Holzwarth, New Rockford, N.D.
- Riley Huffman, West Fargo, N.D.
- Madelyn Jablonski, Mandan, N.D.
- Benjamin Kearney, Andover, Minn.
- Peter Knutson, Foley, Minn.
- Lincoln Kranz, Horace, N.D.
- Mikale Kuntz, Grand Forks, N.D.
- Regan Lawrence, Stonewall, Manitoba, Canada
- Abby Lund de Costa, Grand Forks, N.D.
- Nicholas Mathias, Kindred, N.D.
- Tyler Mueller, Fargo, N.D.
- Jonah Muller, Bemidji, Minn.
- Graysen Myers, Fargo, N.D.
- Emilee Ohman, Grand Forks, N.D.
- Hunter Olstad, Valley City, N.D.
- Cade O'Neill, Butte, Mont.
- Jace Otremba, Lakeville, Minn.
- Kathryn Poolman, Duluth, Minn.
- Kelly Reishus, Frazee, Minn.
- Kathleen Ruff, Ashley, N.D.
- Ryan Schulte-Corn, Spokane, Wash.
- Greta Schwartz, Maple Grove, Minn.
- Madison Seifert, Bismarck, N.D.
- Nicole Sinclair, Fargo, N.D.
- Rebecca Solloway, Glenburn, N.D.
- Jenna Steichen, Overland Park, Kan.
- Blair Stewig, Maple Lake, Minn.
- Marie Tate, Crookston, Minn.
- Alyssa Thielges, LaMoure, N.D.
- Katherine Tomczik, Saint Cloud, Minn.
- Jacob Tupa, Larimore, N.D.
- Nicole Virgin, Woodbury, Minn.
- Paxten Wahlund, Minot, N.D.
- Brailyn Weber, Fargo, N.D.
- Emma Weisner, St. Louis Park, Minn.
- Natalie Zinn, Lake Elmo, Minn.
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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