News Briefs
UND Ranks 4th in Nation for Graduates Choosing Family Medicine
UND Ranks Among Top Med Schools for Rural Medicine
Sticca Appointed to Commission on Cancer Position
Kupchella Award Presented to Drs. James Mitchell and Donald Hensrud
Small Hospitals Receive Grants Through UND Center for Rural Health Program
North Dakota, Heal Thyself Receives National Award
Melvold and Brown-Borg Recognized for Teaching and Research Excellence
Medical Student Receives Research Grant for Cancer Study
Science Day for Kids
Jan Stube Recognized at OT Conference
UND Ranks 4th in Nation for Graduates Choosing Family Medicine
The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences is one of the best medical schools in the country for producing family medicine physicians, according to rankings released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
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Richard Kellerman, M.D., president of AAFP; Robert Beattie, M.D. ’80, professor and chair of family and community medicine; Elizabeth Burns, M.D., M.A., professor of family and community medicine, and Stephen Stripe, M.D., FAAFP, associate director, UND Center for Family Medicine, Minot.
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Ranking fourth out of 125 medical schools in the country, UND earned the Achievement Award from the AAFP, which recognizes outstanding efforts to foster student interest in family medicine and produce graduates who enter the specialty.
Based on a three-year average, for the period ending October 2006, 17.4 percent of UND’s graduates have entered an accredited family medicine residency program. This spring, 20 percent of the 55 graduating medical students are planning to pursue training in family medicine; the national average is about eight percent, according to the AAFP.
“We are very pleased to be recognized among the nation’s most effective medical schools in encouraging students to pursue the specialty of family medicine,” said H. David Wilson, M.D., dean of the UND medical school. “This honor reaffirms that our school is doing an exemplary job - better than nearly all other U.S. medical schools - of preparing students who make family medicine their career choice.”
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UND Ranks Among Top Med Schools for Rural Medicine
The U.S. News and World Report has ranked the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences as one of the best in the nation for its commitment to rural medicine.
The ranking, released in the 2008 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News and World Report, is based on results of a survey of medical school deans and senior faculty members at 125 U.S. medical schools.
“This recognition reaffirms our role as a national leader in the education and training of physicians for rural practice,” said H. David Wilson, M.D., dean of the medical school and vice president for health affairs at UND, “and our commitment to quality, accessible rural health care. We are pleased to be viewed as a model for how medical education and practice can best be carried out in a rural, sparsely populated state.”
The UND medical school offers medical students a third-year experience in rural communities through its Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) Program. Its faculty and staff also conduct research on rural health care issues.
This is also a particular honor for the school’s Rural Assistance Center (RAC), the only one in the entire nation, he said. Operated through the Center for Rural Health, RAC serves as an international clearinghouse for information on rural health issues; its personnel field requests from every state in the union and several foreign countries.
In the Best Graduate Schools survey, the UND medical school ranked behind (in descending order from first-ranked) University of Washington, the University of New Mexico, East Tennessee State University and the University of Iowa. In past years, UND has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report, usually ranking in the top five in the area of rural medicine.
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Sticca Appointed to Commission on Cancer Position
Robert Sticca, M.D., F.A.C.S.,
chair and program director
of the Department of Surgery at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been appointed to a three-year term as the state chair of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC) Cancer Liaison Physician Program. State chairs are volunteer physicians who serve as state representatives for the CoC and provide leadership and support to the CoC-approved programs and cancer liaison physicians in their state.
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Kupchella Award Presented to Drs. James Mitchell and Donald Hensrud
Two physicians received the Charles E. Kupchella Preventive Medicine and Wellness Award, presented by the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences during commencement activities in May for the Doctor of Medicine Class of 2007.
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| James Mitchell |
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| Donald Hensrud |
James Mitchell, M.D., chairman and Chester Fritz Distinguished
Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the UND medical school and president of the Neuroscience Research Institute (NRI), Fargo, and Donald Hensrud, M.D. (B.S. Med. ‘82), chairman of the division of preventive and occupational medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, received the award, given this year for the second time.
Named for the current president of UND, the Kupchella Award
recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations who have worked to improve health and wellness through lowered rates of disease and disability by developing and delivering effective health promotion and prevention initiatives.
Mitchell, who holds the NRI/Lee Christoferson, M.D., Chair in Neuroscience, is an internationally recognized authority in eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and obesity. He is the author of numerous books in his field of study and has written extensively for publication in scientific journals. The recipient of many awards and honors, he was named in 2003 as a McCann Scholar, a prestigious honor given to a select few outstanding mentors in medicine in the United States.
Hensrud, associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, serves as chair of the health promotion committee and medical director of the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center at Mayo Clinic. Originally from Grand Forks, he is the author of numerous articles, papers and book chapters on topics related to nutrition and obesity for publication in scientific journals and served as assistant editor of the second edition of the Mayo Clinic Family Health Book.
The award has been made possible by a gift to the UND Foundation from Manuchair Ebadi, Ph.D., senior advisor to the president and associate vice president for health affairs and medical research at UND and associate dean for research and program development at the UND medical school.
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Small Hospitals Receive Grants Through UND Center for Rural Health Program
More than 40 rural North Dakota communities will benefit from grants given to small hospitals through the North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex) administered through the Center for Rural Health at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
This year the North Dakota Flex program distributed $333,191 in grant funds to small hospitals across the state to fund studies and evaluations of the facilities, establish new programs, purchase new equipment and provide training to staff and volunteers.
Facilities that received grants include:
Bottineau-St. Andrew’s Health Center
Bowman-Southwest Healthcare Services
Carrington Health Center
Cooperstown Medical Center
Crosby-St. Luke’s Hospital
Elgin-Jacobson Memorial Hospital
Garrison Memorial Hospital
Harvey-St. Aloisius Medical Center
Hazen-Sakakawea Medical Center
Langdon-Cavalier County Memorial Hospital
Linton Hospital
Lisbon Area Health Services
Oakes Community Hospital
Park River-First Care Health Center
Richardton Memorial Hospital and Health Center
Rolla-Presentation Medical Center
Stanley-Mountrail County Medical Center
Tioga Medical Center
Valley City-Mercy Hospital
Watford City-McKenzie County Healthcare Systems
Wishek Community Hospital
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North Dakota, Heal Thyself Receives National Award
The American Library Association (ALA) has announced that North Dakota, Heal Thyself, by John Vennes, Ph.D., and Patrick McGuire, has received a national 2006 Notable Documents award. The book is just one of 12 publications in the state and local documents category.
The book is described as “the dramatic story of how a tiny school of medicine that opened its doors one hundred years ago among the wheat fields of the fledgling University of North Dakota grew into a modern institution that has become a national model of community based medical training.”
Vennes, a native of Zahl, ND, has had a long history with the UND medical school, having joined the faculty in 1952. In the ensuing years, he served as chair of the microbiology department, as interim dean of the medical school, and as associate dean. He has worked under ten of the twelve deans of the medical school, including Harley E. French.
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Melvold and Brown-Borg Recognized for Teaching and Research Excellence
Two faculty members received awards for outstanding teaching and research at the commencement activities in May.
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| Roger Melvold |
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| Holly Brown-Borg |
Roger Melvold, Ph.D., chairman and Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, received the Hippocratic Dignity Award for 2007. The award is given to a senior memberof the faculty or administration who has exhibited a sustained and unwavering record of supporting all students and their educational programs in a dignified fashion. Melvold teaches immunology and genetics to medical, graduate and undergraduate students. He has co-authored two textbooks, “Concise Medical Immunology,” published in 2005, and “Lippincott Illustrated Reviews,” which is scheduled to be released in August 2007.
His research, which relates to multiple sclerosis, has focused on the effects of genetics on the immune system by examining genetic mutations in mice. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists and the International Society of Neuroimmunology, and serves on the editorial board of the journal, Transplantation.
Holly Brown-Borg, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology, has been selected to receive the Dean H. David Wilson, M.D., Academic Award in Neurosciences for 2007. The award recognizes distinguished members of the medical school’s faculty who have established a sustained record of achievement in the neurosciences.
Brown-Borg is a highly respected teacher and researcher who, with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducts investigations into the relationship of the growth hormone to the aging process in the Ames dwarf mouse.
Her research has been published widely, including in the journal, Nature, and has had a great impact on the field of experimental gerontology. In recognition of her research, she has received the NIH National Service Award and the rare honor of being named a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.
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Medical Student Receives Research Grant for Cancer Study
Miran Blanchard, a first-year medical student, was one of only 20 medical students nationwide to receive a grant from the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation’s Seed Grant Research Program.
Blanchard, son of Dr. Joel and Marie-Anne Blanchard of Dickinson, received the $2,500 grant for his project titled “Effect of Oligonucleotides with CpG motifs on Immunologic Responses of Dendritic Cell Vaccines for Colorectal Cancer.” He will be conducting his research under the supervision of Robert Sticca, M.D., professor and chair of surgery at the UND medical school.
Sticca and Blanchard are investigating the use of vaccines for colorectal cancer in mice. They hope eventually to start human clinical trials using the protocol.
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Science Day for Kids
Fifth- and sixth-grade students attended the annual Science Day on March 24 at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks.
The event is designed to stimulate children’s interest in science and features a hands-on approach to learning. It is hosted by the UND chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA).
Supervised by medical students, the activities focused on human health and anatomy, the heart and the importance of exercise, awareness of the dangers of tobacco use, “grossology”, medical instruments and how they’re used, and various projects that demonstrate scientific principles.
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Jan Stube Recognized at OT Conference
Jan Stube, Ph.D., OTR/L, was recognized for “Excellence in
Education, Practice and Research” and inducted as a member of the Roster of Fellows of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) at the association’s annual conference and Expo in St. Louis, MO, in April.
The Roster of Fellows recognizes occupational therapist members of AOTA, who with their knowledge and expertise, have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of members of the Association.
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