The Gift of Caring

Grads Provide Excellent Health Care Services Regionwide

Sara Solberg, M.D. ’00, is exuberant.  She fairly bubbles over when talking about her practice, her patients and the path which led her to medical school at UND and eventually home again to Williston.

Solberg practices the full range of obstetrics-gynecology with Beverly Tong, M.D., at Great Plains Women’s Health Center.  The practice also includes a certified nurse midwife, Kerry Raghib, BSN ’76, and a certified women’s health nurse practitioner, Sheri Skalsky.  Solberg and Tong are faculty members in obstetrics-gynecology with the UND medical school.

“We have great patients,” Solberg says, noting that from the moment they opened the doors in 2004, “It was like ‘boom!’ we had a practice.  It’s going well.”

The clinic draws from a wide area spanning eastern Montana and Stanley, Crosby, Noonan, Kenmare, Watford City and Mandaree, ND, she says.  “We have the New Town IHS (Indian Health Service) contract, so we take care of those patients too.”

A native of Helena, MT, Solberg has lived in Williston “since second grade on,” she says.  She graduated high school there in 1991 and enrolled at Montana State University where she majored in microbiology.

“I really didn’t make the decision to go to medical school ‘til my fourth year of college.  I was going to go into research,” she says, probably in a university setting.  After college, she worked for a year teaching chemistry and microbiology lab classes at UND-Williston State College.

“Back then I was doing a lot of virology and recombinant DNA.”

But she thought about the researcher’s life, the constant pressure to secure grant support for one’s work, and the necessity of living in a metropolitan area.

Sara Solberg, M.D. ’00, enjoys practicing obstetrics and gynecology in her hometown.

“I had a change of heart,” she says.  “I knew (as a researcher) I’d be somewhat limited in where I would live.  It’s a tough way to make a living.

“I began to think about what I could do with my love of science and something with more ‘people contact’.”

Medicine fit the bill.

She was admitted to the UND medical school where  “the quality of the education was excellent,” she says.  “The basic sciences as a whole were very good.”

She credits Tom Hutchens, M.D., clinical assistant professor of obstetrics-gynecology, Bismarck, and Craig Johnson, M.D., a former faculty member who practiced in Bismarck, as influencing her decision to pursue obstetrics-gynecology.

Like most UND medical alumni, upon graduation she received one of her top choices in residency training; she headed off for four years in Amarillo, TX.  But she stayed on the radar screen of Williston physician, Joseph Adducci, M.D., clinical professor of obstetrics-gynecology, who was determined to convince her to return home.

“Dr. Adducci started talking to me early on” in her residency training, she remembers.  Although she and her husband, Russ, considered other places, they chose to settle in Williston.

Family “had a huge impact on our decision” to come back to the area, she says.  She and Russ have a three-year-old daughter, Emma, and nine-month-old son, Garrett.  Russ farms with his parents, Glenn and Donna Solberg, near Williston.  Sara’s parents, Bill and Marilyn Rudoph, also reside in Williston.

They “are a huge help,” she says.  “I couldn’t do it without them.”

Devils Lake is a Grad Magnet

For Derek Wayman, M.D. ’03, a family physician with a strong interest in obstetrics and pediatrics, choosing to practice in Devils Lake fit his lifestyle and career goals.

“I enjoy the Midwest and wanted to work in a small town where I can concentrate on obstetrics,” he says.  Since starting his practice this fall at Altru Clinic-Lake Region, “it’s already been very busy; it’s fun.”

Originally from Montana, Wayman attended the UND medical school through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education program.  As a medical student he received numerous awards for academic achievement and high potential for success in family medicine.

During his third year of medical school, he received training at West River Health Clinics in Hettinger through the school’s Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program which he says reinforced his desire to practice family medicine in a rural community.

He and his wife, Abbey, have two children, a son, Bridger, 3, and daughter, Brooke, five months.

“He’s great!” Elonda Nord, manager of Altru Clinic-Lake Region, says of Wayman. “We’re so happy to have him.  He knows his stuff, and people like him.”

Derek Wayman, M.D. ’03, began his family medicine practice this summer at Devils Lake.  He cares for patients of all ages, but has a special interest in obstetrics and pediatrics.

Residents of the Devils Lake area also benefit from other UND alumni who have chosen to practice there, Nord says, including physician assistants Ginger Collins, PA ’00, and Jodi Melander, PA ’97, and nurse practitioners Stephanie Zieman, MSN ’05, and Amy Cox, MSN ’97.

The medical school “has been very good for the state,” says Marlene Krein, president and CEO of Mercy Hospital in Devils Lake.  “And we always hope we can have doctors come back and practice here,” like Wayman; Heidi Bittner, M.D. ’91; Richard Johnson, M.D. (B.S. Med. ’72); James Klinkenbeard, M.D., and Terry Klinkenbeard, M.D., both 1988 psychiatry program grads, and others.

Since Mercy Hospital is a teaching site for the medical school, she said, “Having the students here, really, it’s been a blessing because it keeps our staff on their toes.  It’s good because it provides an exchange of new knowledge that’s being taught and our current ways of providing care.

“It helps us build a newer foundation,” she says, “and keeps us on the cutting edge of health care.”

“We’ve been lucky to recruit ‘homegrown physicians’,” she notes, adding that “it’s just an added bonus — they understand the culture, they know the expectations of the patients.”

In addition to medical and mid-level practitioners, hundreds of allied health graduates of UND are providing care for people around the region, such as Jennifer Pederson, DPT ‘06, who is excited to be working as a physical therapist at Select Therapy in Devils Lake.

“It’s something different every day,” she says.  “There’s always a new challenge.”

Pederson is the daughter of Roger and Carol Pederson who farm near Starkweather where she was born, raised and attended high school.  She started out at UND as an accounting major, but soon realized this was not the career for her.

“I like numbers but I thought, ‘I don’t think I’ll be happy with this long-term’.”

After observing a few physical therapists around the state, she switched to physical therapy and seems very pleased that she did.

“It’s an opportunity to make a difference in these people’s lives,” she says.  “It’s amazing how much they appreciate what you do for them.  If you can make a person feel even 50 percent better, you can make a huge difference in this person’s life.

“That’s what makes it for me!”

"It's always something different every day," says Jennifer Pederson, DPT '06, a physical therapist in Devils Lake.  "It's an opportunity to make a difference in people's lives."

The education she received in preparation for her career in physical therapy was “top notch,” Pederson says, noting that all the faculty members were excellent.  In particular, Reed Argent, MPT ’94, of Minot, was “spectacular; he’s very much about quality of care. He probably had the greatest influence (on me) clinically.”

As a recent graduate, she is also grateful for the “strong network” of faculty members and classmates.

“Even out of school, I feel 100 percent comfortable to call professors and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this situation.  What do you suggest?’

“That’s huge for me!”

Enhancing Psychiatric Care for Native Americans

In Belcourt, much-needed services in mental health care have enhanced the local medical community with the decision by Eric Swensen, M.D. ’02, to establish his medical practice at the Quentin N. Burdick Memorial Healthcare Facility in Belcourt.

Swensen recently completed four years of training in psychiatry at the UND medical school’s residency program in Fargo.  At Belcourt, he is practicing general psychiatry, providing care for adults, children and adolescents.

A member of the Aleut Tribe of Alaska, he was enrolled at the UND medical school through its Indian Into Medicine (INMED) program.

“This is more evidence for the UND medical school and the INMED program that the partnership is working, serving North Dakota Indian populations especially well,” said Richard Larson, M.D. ’82, acting clinical director at the Burdick Healthcare Facility and clinical assistant professor of family and community medicine with the medical school.

Garrison and Valley City’s New Docs

Jon Dornacker, M.D. ’02, began his practice in September at the Garrison Memorial Hospital and Clinic.  He completed family medicine residency training at the UND Center for Family Medicine-Bismarck in July.

A native of Mayville, he earned the Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology and chemistry in 1987 at Mayville State University.  He also earned a law degree from the UND School of Law in 1991 and practiced law for seven years in Grand Forks, Carrington and Bismarck.

Becoming a physician was something “I have always wanted to do,” he says, so eight years ago he enrolled at the UND medical school.

He chose to pursue training in family medicine because “You’re on

the front lines, where you get to see the people,” he says.  “You do a little bit of everything, helping infants to the elderly.  You’re not specialized into one niche.”

Dornacker, who has been doing locum tenens work at Garrison for the past year got to know the staff at the hospital and found that the “nurses were great, the people were great, the town was great — it was just a great experience.”

He and his wife, Kristy, have two children, Alexander, 8, and Cassandra, 6.  The family resides in Garrison.

In Valley City, Jithender Kandimalla, M.D. (Surgery Residency ’06), a recent graduate of the UND’s five-year general surgery residency program has established his practice with MeritCare Clinic Valley City.

Kandimalla earned the medical degree at Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, India in 1991 and a master’s degree in general surgery from Ghandi Medical College in Hyderabad in 1995.  He took advanced training in Liverpool, United Kingdom;  Glasgow, Scotland; and the Bronx, NY.

Kandimalla specializes in the surgical treatment of a wide range of diseases and conditions which involve the breast, stomach, esophagus, pancreas, gall bladder, lower intestines, hernia and abdomen.

His wife, Sridevi Gowravaram, M.D., a pediatrician, also practices at MeritCare Valley City Clinic.  They and their two sons, Akhil and Praval, reside in Valley City.

Essential Element

“We know that our state’s medical school has made a huge

difference on the impact of our entire system,” says Jim Long, chief executive officer at West River Health System (WRHS)in Hettinger.

The extraordinary medical center, where 15 physicians practice, has benefited greatly from the infusion of UND medical grads who years ago built it into a premiere rural health care facility.

An important teaching site for UND medical students, the WRHS maximizes its time with students to begin to interest them in a possible future career based in Hettinger.

“It’s a good experience for students to see us, and consider us in the future,” he says.

“UND is a prime source of recruiting for us.  It’s a prime source for information and support through the Center for Rural Health.”

“We give a lot of credit to the existence of the medical school for our success.”

That success has spurred the WRHS to launch a $7 million building and renovation project, which is expected to get under way in earnest next spring.

“The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences and its graduates are imperative to the future of delivery of health care in the state of North Dakota,” says Kim Miller, president and CEO of Mercy Hospital in Williston.  People who have grown up here and who know the state are more likely to practice here and to stay here.  “It’s so critical.”

-Pamela D. Knudson

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