In Grand Forks and across the state, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences (UND SMHS) is ramping up efforts to enroll more North Dakota students — with an eye toward increasing the overall class size and serving community healthcare needs. The initiative, dubbed “North Dakota 85,” seeks to have 85 % of its incoming medical and physician-assistant students be North Dakota–affiliated.
Located in Grand Forks, UND SMHS is the only comprehensive medical and health sciences school in North Dakota, training physicians and other health-care providers for the region.
With rural and smaller communities in the state facing shortages of doctors, physician assistants and other providers, UND is aiming to build up its own home-grown talent.
As Dean Marjorie Jenkins puts it: “Recruiting and graduating more North Dakotans increases the likelihood that these providers will practice in North Dakota in the future.”
Under the outreach plan, UND staff will hit the road from October through April, visiting high schools, colleges, career fairs and camps across North Dakota — including several stops in the Grand Forks region.
For Grand Forks locals, the initiative means that more students from here and nearby areas may have increased access and consideration in the UND medical and health sciences programs. That could boost opportunities locally and help ensure more practitioners remain in the region.
“Our school’s mission is to serve North Dakota for the benefit of its people and to enhance the quality of their lives,” Jenkins said.
Many parts of North Dakota continue to have fewer physicians and health-care providers per capita, especially outside urban hubs.
For Grand Forks and the wider North Dakota region, the North Dakota 85 initiative by UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences represents a timely effort to turn the tide on provider shortages and boost educational pathways for local students.
As the recruitment journey rolls through the state, Grand Forks stands to benefit — not only from greater access to health-care education, but from the long-term promise of more doctors, physician assistants and health professionals staying in-state.
