Ten medical schools that have contributed the most to the pipeline of family physicians were honored when the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) presented its Top Ten Awards during the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference on April 29 in New Orleans. The awards recognize schools that, during a three-year period, graduate the greatest percentage of students who choose first-year family medicine residency positions.

The University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) is the top medical school in the country for producing family medicine physicians, with 19.6 percent. The overall U.S. match rate for family medicine this year is 8.4 percent, according to the AAFP.  Other regional schools recognized by the AAFP were the University of Minnesota Medical School, with 15.6 percent, and Sanford School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota, with 15.0 percent.

“This award would not be possible without the tireless efforts of our volunteer faculty throughout the state. It is the modeling of their dedication to patients that makes the biggest impact on students,” said Robert Beattie, MD, clinical professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.  “The relationships established between community preceptors and students, many times, last a lifetime and greatly influence their future role as physician. Thank you to all of our faculty members.”

“We are very pleased to be recognized as the nation’s most effective medical school in encouraging students to pursue the specialty of family medicine,” said Joshua Wynne, MD, MBA, MPH, UND vice president for health affairs and dean of the UND SMHS.  “We are working hard to address North Dakota’s need for physicians and other health care workers, especially those in the field of family medicine. Although our percentage is the best in the country, the small size of our class means that we still don’t produce enough family physicians for the needs of the region. That’s why we are so pleased that the Legislature has funded an increase in our class size, which will enable us to produce even more of the health care providers that North Dakota needs.”

The UND medical school has several unique programs designed to educate students about the benefits of family medicine.  The nationally recognized Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program places third-year medical students in several rural communities in North Dakota for a seven-month rotation.

For more than 16 years, the Students/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) program has provided health profession students an opportunity to spend a month working in interdisciplinary teams in rural North Dakota communities.

In 2010, UND’s SMHS signed its first RuralMed Scholar. The goal of the RuralMed Scholarship Program is to recruit, educate and retain physicians who will practice family medicine in rural North Dakota. The program absorbs the tuition costs for all four years of medical school for students who agree to practice family medicine in a rural area of North Dakota for five years.