Hope Cleland, M.D. and James Lessard, M.D.

Hope Cleland, M.D. ’07, with her mentor, James Lessard, M.D. (B.S. Med. ’73), rheumatologist and clinical professor of internal medicine, Grand Forks.

“I was inspired to become a doctor and rheumatologist by Dr. James Lessard (B.S. Med. ’73) of Valley Bone and Joint” in Grand Forks, says Hope Cleland, M.D. ’07, who begins three years of residency training in internal medicine this summer at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine program in Sioux Falls.  After residency, she plans to pursue a fellowship in rheumatology.

“I was in the Air Force (in Grand Forks) and had to get out because I was diagnosed with SLE (lupus),” she says.  “Dr. Lessard is my rheumatologist and when I showed interest in becoming a doctor, he encouraged me and gave me words of wisdom.  He wrote me a letter of recommendation for medical school.

“He said, ‘even if you have lupus, don’t let that stop you,’” she recalls.

“Seeing what Dr. Lessard does on a daily basis, how he relates to his patients” stirred her interest in rheumatology, she says.  “He’s so excited and passionate about his field...  And he really cares for his patients; he uses a lot of humor with them – even if he’s had a bad day.  He’s always happy; always smiling.”

Diseases treated by rheumatologists –  rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, vasculitis, fibromyalgia, among others — are “masters of disguise” and often very difficult to diagnose, she says.  Lessard, clinical professor of internal medicine, taught her to recognize the common while keeping in mind other possibilities, and to think carefully about what drugs she should recommend. 

“There are so many drugs out there,” she says, noting that massive research efforts aimed at fighting AIDS led to new advances and improved drug therapies for the field of rheumatology.  “You have to use your gut and knowledge to know how to treat your patients.”     

As a doctor who has lupus, she’ll be able to empathize with her patients, she says.  “I’ll know how they feel.”

This spring, Cleland completed a senior-year rotation with Lessard “and it was all and more than I expected,” she says.  “My dream is to become a rheumatologist and I hope one day to get to work side-by-side with him here in Grand Forks.   

“If I could be half the doctor he is, that’d be great!”

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