Testimonials

I chose the UND TY program for several reasons: There is a wide variety of electives offered. I was particularly interested in the POCUS curriculum, which is a program that is responsive to resident feedback for improvement. It is closely integrated with the IM residency, and it is very family friendly. I feel so fortunate that I matched at UND for my transitional year as I had an amazing experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. I was able to learn so much and grow as a physician, with increasing independence, while still being able to maintain a good work-life balance. Even during the most rigorous medicine months, I was happy going to work and still had sufficient time at home with my family. We work and develop close relationships with the IM residents and are treated the same as our categorical IM colleagues. The highlights of this program are numerous: the program constantly seeks resident feedback for improvement and is quick to implement changes. The program also strives to customize each resident's experience to their personal learning goals, and Dr. Alberto (the Program Director) and Ashley Jochim (the Program Coordinator) are fantastic, supportive, responsive, and endlessly helpful. One of the many examples that I have at the ready is that Dr. Alberto and Ashley created an outpatient pediatric elective for me which was not available at other residencies where I had interviewed. I think, overall, the program did an excellent job preparing me for my radiology residency. I had varied, but thorough, exposure to medicine and the various subspecialties which provided a solid foundation of knowledge. The POCUS course, as well as the overall residency focus on POCUS utilization during the medicine rotations, helped me to become comfortable with ultrasound scanning, so performing ultrasound-guided procedures is easier. Also, the offsite elective gave me time to develop a self-directed curriculum with my current Program Director that set me up to start out residency ahead of others in my cohort.

The UND TY program is exceptional! The program offers a generous variety of rotation choices. The faculty are knowledgeable and very invested in our education. This program allowed me to tailor my intern year according to my specific educational deficiencies and prepared me to move forward. Additionally, Fargo is an amazing city with friendly people and great quality of life.

I ranked the UND TY program highly for a variety of reasons including excellent leadership with an interest in imaging (Dr. Alberto is very interested in point-of-care ultrasound and routinely holds informal teaching sessions on this topic during inpatient months), university affiliation, program size, proximity to family, dedication to resident wellness, competitive stipend, presence of a procedures rotation, and presence of a four-week dedicated research rotation. In addition, affordable housing located right across the street from the hospital, a very safe community, the opportunity to work in a Level 1 Trauma Center, and access to all-you-can-eat free hot meals and snacks in the physician lounge made the program stand out. I feel that the UND TY program prepared me very well for diagnostic radiology residency. There were many opportunities to review images on patients that I was caring for during the year and also many opportunities to practice point-of-care ultrasound. I routinely recommend this TY program to medical students. I had a fantastic experience overall.

I chose the UND TY program as I wanted a program that offered me the flexibility to tailor my education for my individual needs and that would allow me to do this surrounded by likeminded and kind individuals who would enhance my learning experience. In a word, I would describe my TY year as fantastic. The program itself is great starting from the office/support staff, to the program director, to your fellow residents. You can expect to receive extremely responsive communication, great integration with the IM residents, and leadership who really care about you as a person.

The UND TY residency program is truly an incredible place to train and grow as a physician. The level of training here is second to none and I feel very well-prepared for my specialty. The key aspect of this program that separates it from others is the emphasis on physician well-being. You would have a hard time finding a more humane work schedule anywhere in the country. This excellent work–life balance allows residents to recharge, spend time with family, exercise, and/or work on research. The smaller size of this residency program makes for a close-knit community amongst the residents and faculty. I highly recommend you consider completing your TY residency at UND.

The UND TY program stood out to me as a program where I would be challenged to grow as a physician in a positive and collaborative learning environment. I felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the year working with the excellent faculty and residents in Fargo. The flexibility of the schedule and the open communication with program leadership stood out to me as top-notch qualities of the program. I would absolutely recommend UND as a strong program in the Midwest and as one that values resident feedback and continues to improve resident education.

I wanted an intern year program that offered me a wide variety of clinical experiences and one that would provide good work-life balance. UND has a broad range of electives offered. I especially enjoyed the procedures rotation. The ability to have dedicated research and away-rotations was another feature I enjoyed. The program culture is much like Fargo itself: friendly and inviting. All of these features made me leave Florida for what became a great Transitional Year.

UND’s Transitional Year program helped me meet my goals prior to starting dermatology residency. The hospitalist and ICU attendings are excellent teachers and give a good blend of supervision and autonomy while creating a healthy work environment. As I was going into dermatology, it was important to me that I was given adequate exposure to related fields during my transitional year. My months spent in primary care, rheumatology, and plastic surgery have been particularly valuable to me in my training and I still reference these experiences today. Elective time is spent working one-on-one with attendings and this was a huge strength as it allowed plenty of time for questions. Finally, Dr. Alberto is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and cares about his residents on a personal level. We are lucky to have him as our leader of UND’s TY program!