University of South Dakota

Overview
The University of South Dakota, founded in 1862, is the state's flagship institution, the oldest university and is designated as the only public liberal arts university in South Dakota.

At USD you can:

• Pursue your passion. Choose from 132 undergraduate programs, majors and minors and 65 graduate programs.
• Do it all. From study abroad to Honors to internships and research, USD offers exceptional opportunities to help you succeed.
• Study under award-winning faculty who are experts in their field. Faculty members have earned state, regional and national recognition, and they speak at conferences throughout the world.
• Work with world-class researchers like Yuyu Sun and Jie Luo who developed a technology that uses light energy to develop new adhesives for tissue repair and Tim Heaton who has discovered human remains 10,000 years old while excavating in Alaska.
• Find a welcoming, vibrant campus in Vermillion. Recreational and cultural opportunities abound in the town, nearby countryside and neighboring communities.
• Enjoy abundant resources and opportunities. From concerts to D1 athletics to more than 120 student organizations and clubs, there are endless possibilities to get involved.

Not surprisingly, USD graduates can be found in leadership positions around the world. In South Dakota, 70 percent of the attorneys, 48 percent of physicians and half of the teachers all graduated from USD. Whatever your interest, we can help you develop the knowledge and skills you need to advance your career.

Setting the Standard
Clinical sites have been chosen for the Frontier and Rural Medicine (FARM) program. More>

For more than 100 years, our mission has focused on three areas:

Education:

• Emphasis on team teaching and family medicine
• Exemplary training for students, residents and professionals
• Exceptional re-accreditation report

Research:

• From fetal alcohol syndrome to rural health care
• Annual awards of more than $17 million

Service:

• Our students have helped administer flu shots to children
• They've provided medical care internationally
• And they've founded the Coyote Clinic in Sioux Falls to help those in need

Apply Now:

• M.D. Program
• Residency and Fellowship Programs
• Ph.D. in Basic Sciences
• Physician-Scientist Program

Our History
History of USD

• The University of South Dakota was established at Vermillion by the Dakota Legislature in 1862 and began classes in 1882.
• USD has the responsibility of serving all of South Dakota with quality education at the undergraduate as well as graduate levels.
• The University serves the state of South Dakota with multiple health affairs programs, including the Sanford School of Medicine.
• The first academic unit of the University was the College of Arts and Sciences, established in 1883. Other academic units and the dates of their establishment are the School of Law, 1901; the School of Medicine, 1907; the School of Education, 1927, the School of Business, 1927, the Graduate School, 1929, the College of Fine Arts, 1931; the School of Nursing, 1954; and the School of Health Sciences in 2007.

Our History

• Our school began in 1907 with an original curriculum that consisted of two years of pre-medical work and two years of medicine.
• In 1920, the College of Arts and Sciences assumed the pre-medical curriculum, and we concentrated on the first two years of instruction in medical science.
• In 1951, construction was completed on the original Andrew E. Lee Memorial Medicine and Science Building. The facility was expanded in 1960, permitting the enlargement of research areas and teaching labs. A new addition opened in 1969, which also provided expansion and improvement in teaching and research facilities.
• In 1974, we became a four-year medical school focused on family medicine.
• One year later, provisional accreditation was granted by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the first third-year class of 40 students was enrolled on May 12, 1975.
• After 68 years as a two-year medical school, we started a full clinical program, received full accreditation and graduated the first Doctors of Medicine on May 14, 1977.
• Students in their first two years attend classes in the Lee Medical Building in Vermillion.
• Third- and fourth-year students learn at our partner hospitals in Rapid City, Sioux Falls or Yankton, making our educational program a statewide cooperative endeavor.
• While our students are trained to allow them to enter any specialty, our curriculum emphasizes family medicine along with other primary care specialties with the support and good work by practicing physicians from a broad range of specialties.
• In 2002, after our last accreditation visit, we received the longest possible reaccreditation of seven years. An accreditation team will return to visit the school in October 2009.
• In 2004, a groundbreaking was held for the new Lee Medical Building, which was officially dedicated on September 5, 2008.
• In 2005, philanthropist T. Denny Sanford presented us a $20 million gift, and we officially became the Sanford School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota.

Body Donor Program
Indispensable Gift
We're grateful for all of the people who have donated their bodies to science. These donations are an indispensable aid in teaching anatomy to our medical and health sciences students. Textbooks can only teach students can learn about 80 percent of what they need to know about human anatomy. The other 20 percent is variable. That's why the body donor program is so critical for the human anatomy class.

Learning Respect
The cadaver serves as our students' first patient, teaching them respect and professionalism. They are honored and humbled by the donations. In fact, some of them have signed up to be body donors themselves.

University of South Dakota Degree Programs :

Medicine

Pharmacy

Video Presentation

Snowfall at the University of South Dakota