University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Region: North Dakota Country: USA

The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the only school of medicine in the state of North Dakota.

The school has trained roughly half of the physicians currently practicing in the state. Roughly 20 percent of the American Indian doctors in the United States were trained at the school. Also, the medical school has been ranked third nationally in the area of rural medicine and first for the percentage of graduates choosing family medicine.

History
The school was founded in 1905 to provide the first two years of medical education.In 1973, the school began granting the MD degree to students, though the third year of medical school was spent at either Mayo Medical School or the University of Minnesota Medical School. It was expanded to the full four-year curriculum in 1981, and the school slowly phased out the exchange third year by 1984

Research
Research is an important part of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. In fiscal year 2006, research awards totaled $19.8 million.The medical school is also home to the Center for Rural Health, which focuses on the health of rural communities and has been awarded numerous grants.Their programs include the nationally recognized Rural Assistance Center and the recently launched Health Workforce Information Center.They also host the National Resource Center on Native American Aging and other programs. President Barack Obama appointed the director of the Center for Rural Health, Dr. Mary Wakefield, the Administrator of the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2009.

There are three ways to apply for academic programs offered by the School of Medicine and Health Sciences:

Medical students apply for the MD program through the School's Office of Student Affairs and Admissions.
Students interested in graduate programs (e.g., Anatomy and Cell Biology; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Medical Laboratory Science; Microbiology and Immunology; Occupational Therapy; Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics; Physical Therapy; Physician Assistant; Public Health) must apply for admission through the UND Graduate School. Additional information for some of these departments can be found in the lefthand menu.
Students interested in undergraduate programs (e.g., Athletic Training, Cytotechnology, Medical Laboratory Science) must apply through Enrollment Services. Additional information for some of these departments can be found in the lefthand menu.

Office of Medical Education
The Office of Medical Education (OME) is an administrative unit of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences charged with developing, administering and evaluating the medical education programs of the school. OME implements educational policies approved by the Medical Curriculum Committee (MCC). OME 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. OME also promotes education research, focusing on patient-centered learning in medical education and performance-based assessment of professional competence.

Chester Fritz Library
The Chester Fritz Library (CFL) is the University's main library, a federal document depository library, and the largest research library in the state. It holds over 1.6 million volumes, plus thousands of online resources. In addition, the Special Collections department collects documents related to regional history and genealogical resources, including a large collection of Norwegian bygdeboker (place histories). Three branch libraries in energy and environmental research, geology and music are associated with the CFL.

Harley E. French Library of the Health Sciences
The Harley E. French Library of the Health Sciences provides access to health sciences information for faculty, students, and staff of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the College of Nursing. It provides these services by coordinating health information services on the main campus and the other three clinical campuses in Fargo, Minot and Bismarck. As a designated Outreach Library for the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, the library also provides health information access training and services throughout the state.

Thormodsgard Law Library
Named after Olaf H. Thormodsgard, former Dean of the UND School of Law, the Thormodsgard law library offers more than 321,000 volumes, a growing audio-visual collection, and a variety of legal databases. The collection reflects the Core Collection as set forth by the American Bar Association and includes such resources as case reporters, statutes, constitutions, legislative process materials, administrative materials, restatements, treatises, periodicals, and selected non-legal resources.

Music Library
The Gordon Erickson Music Library is the most extensive music library in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, with over 8,000 LP records, 6,600 CDs, and 800 tapes, representing music of all styles and periods. The library also has a thousands of pieces of sheet music, including a wide selection of orchestral and operatic scores. A generous endowment from the estate of the late Edna Ullyot of Langdon has provided for the continued development and expansion of the score and CD recording holdings of the Music Library.

Energy and Environment Research Center
The Energy and Environment Research Center houses a library in support of the laboratories and researchers at the facility. Its collection is focused on the Center's core research areas, such as energy and water sustainability, hydrogen technologies, alternative fuels, wind energy, biomass, water management, flood prevention, global climate change, waste utilization, energy-efficient technologies, and contaminant cleanup.

F.D. Holland Jr Geology Library
The F. D. Holland Geology Library is the largest geoscience library in the upper Midwest with more than 50,000 volumes, 500 journal titles, 100,000 maps, 18,000 microfiche, and 8,000 air photos. Subjects represented in the collection include geology, environmental geology, hydrogeology, paleontology, geological engineering, mining, petroleum geology,and North Dakota geology. The library is also a depository for U.S. Government documents and specializes in U.S. Geological Survey publications.

Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library
Operated by the North Dakota Geological Survey, this climate controlled facility consists of 2,000 square feet of office and laboratory space and 18,000 square feet of core storage. It currently houses approximately 70 miles of cores and 34,000 boxes of drill cuttings. The cores represent about 75% of the cores cut in the North Dakota portion of the Williston Basin and about 95% of the samples collected. The facility also houses an extensive collection of water-well samples and cores.