University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences Admission
University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences Undergraduate Program
University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences Application

The Facts

The University of North Dakota is a rather large, public institution located in the town of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 18,000 students. The university's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 230 graduate medical students. The average age of enrollment is around 24, and it is fairly rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its heavy clinical training, as well as for its emphasis on the fields of medical research. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school offers a joint MD/PhD degree in the areas of anatomy, biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, physiology, therapeutics, as well as pharmacology.

Admission to the University of North Dakota's School of Medicine and Health Sciences is fairly competitive among the relatively few students who apply; last year, only about 218 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 96 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 62 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 9.1 in Biology, 8.4 in Physics, and 8.9 in Verbal, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.6. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and there is currently no early application program in place.

The university's School of Medicine and Health Sciences has about 1,442 faculty members, all of whom come from relatively diverse medical and academic backgrounds. The school also boasts a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about 2:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences often go on to be accepted to some of the nations most competitive residency programs, and most frequently specialize in the areas of primary care, community health, psychiatry, as well as pediatrics.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical training including 8 weeks of medicine, 8 weeks of surgery, 8 weeks of pediatrics, 8 weeks of ob/gyn, 8 weeks of psychiatry, 8 weeks of family medicine, as well as 8 weeks of clinical epidemiology. Students complete their clinical clerkships at affiliated facilities including the University of North Dakota's Center for Rural Health Services, the Indian Health Service, and other various regional clinics and centers.

What's Good

"Students really seem to support one another here and help each other out a bit."

"The faculty are very easy to talk to, even if it's not about medicine."

"The administration does a great job of paying attention to the needs of individual students."

What's Bad

"There is never enough on campus graduate housing available."

"I wish the school would offer out of state students more financial aid."

"The basic science courses can be a bit tedious in my opinion."

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