Fifteen of the 18 recipients of the William M. Buckingham Outstanding Resident of the Year Award are MD graduates of the UND medical school, practice in North Dakota and serve on the faculty of the school’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.

The Buckingham Award, presented by the North Dakota Academy of Family Physicians (NDAFP) since 1991, is named for one of the physicians who established the UND Family Medicine Residency Program in Bismarck in the early-1970s. William Buckingham, MD (BS Med ‘49), and Ralph Dunnigan, MD (BS Med ‘53), were the first directors of the program. Among award-winners who took family medicine residency training in North Dakota and have established their practices in-state are:

Biron Baker, MD ‘95 (Bismarck Residency ‘98), Bismarck; Eric Bakke, MD ‘88 (Grand Forks Residency ‘91), Grand Forks; Heidi Bittner, MD ‘91 (Minot Residency ‘94), Devils Lake; Chuck Breen, MD ‘90 (Bismarck Residency ‘93), Hillsboro; Joseph Burns, MD ‘93 (Fargo Residency ‘96), Fargo; Mark Christenson, MD ‘94 (Grand Forks Residency ‘97), Grand Forks; Jeff Hostetter, MD (Bismarck Residency ‘03), Bismarck; Scott Knutson, MD (Minot Residency ‘04), Minot; Kimberly Krohn, MD ‘96 (Minot Residency ‘99), Minot; Candelaria Martin, MD ‘04 (Minot Residency ‘07), Fort Totten; Kristi Midgarden, MD ‘97 (Grand Forks Residency ‘00), Grand Forks; Ben Muscha, MD ‘92 (Bismarck Residency ‘95), Bismarck; Heidi Philpot, MD ‘03 (Grand Forks Residency ‘06), Grand Forks; Todd Schaffer, MD ’02 (Grand Forks Residency ‘05), Carrington, and Robert Wells, MD (Bismarck Residency ‘01), Jamestown. The remaining award recipients, who are not UND MD graduates, are practicing in South Dakota, Wisconsin and Florida. Tomasz Jarzembowski, MD (Grand Forks Residency ‘08), is the most recent recipient of the William M. Buckingham Outstanding Resident Award.

The purpose of the William M. Buckingham Outstanding Resident of the Year Award is to encourage family medicine residents in the practice of family medicine and in the activities of the North Dakota Academy of Family Physicians. It was also created to encourage better role modeling among family practice residents and to recognize positive attributes in future practicing family physicians.

Award recipients have demonstrated an exceptional interest and commitment to family medicine, and exemplify the qualities of a family physician including providing caring and compassionate patient care, scholarly inquiry, community and social awareness, and a maturity in all phases of practice. They also exhibit a balance between personal and professional activities and involvement in the NDAFP.