Medical Schools in North Dakota: How to Get In (2024)
/Learn all you need to know about getting into medical schools in North Dakota—including rankings, admissions stats, tuition, and how to write your secondary essays
LEARN ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING INTO MED SCHOOLS IN NORTH DAKOTA
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in North Dakota: 2024 rankings, tuition, and average admissions stats
Part 3: North Dakota medical school profile
Part 4: Admissions strategies for North Dakota’s medical school
Final Thoughts
Appendix A: North Dakota medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: North Dakota medical schools by institution type
Appendix C: North Dakota medical schools by region
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Part 1: Introduction
As the fourth least populous state in the nation, North Dakota isn’t typically included in lists of most popular destinations for aspiring medical students. And with a cattle population that’s double the size of the human population, North Dakota might not be the best place to pursue your medical degree if you’re intent on practicing medicine within an urban environment.
But for students in search of a medical school that prioritizes multicultural education and improving quality of life for underserved rural populations, North Dakota’s sole medical school could be the perfect fit.
Read on below to learn all you need to know about North Dakota’s only medical school so you can put your best foot forward as you prepare all of the necessary components for the application process.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in North Dakota: 2024 rankings, tuition, and average admission stats
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UND SMHS) is devoted to training health professionals across a wide range of specialties and career paths who will spend their careers serving the population of North Dakota. As a public institution, tuition for North Dakota residents is significantly more affordable than for out-of-state applicants. Minnesota residents are also in luck, as UND SMHS also offers them a significantly reduced tuition fee.
Although the institution was unranked in 2024 by U.S. News and World Report for Research or Primary Care, it was ranked #17 in the nation for Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas. In 2020, its average GPA and MCAT for accepted students were 3.8 and 507, respectively. These slightly less competitive stats could be a reflection of the fact that the UND SMHS admissions committee for the MD program isn’t only interested in finding the most competitive applicants in the country. Instead, they want to find applicants who can combine their solid academics with a passion for underserved patient populations and a career plan that will keep them practicing within North Dakota after graduation.
If that sounds like you, keep reading to learn how you can emphasize your strengths and demonstrate your unique fit with UND’s MD program through your secondary essays and interviews.
| North Dakota Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences | Unranked (Primary Care) Unranked (Research) #17 (Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas) |
1973 (MD) |
$39,509 (MN Resident) $65,312 (Nonresident) |
*Note: The most recent available data on GPA and MCAT scores of accepted UND SMHS students is from 2020.
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Part 3: North Dakota medical school profile
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Founded in 1905, UND SMHS conferred BS degrees in Medicine for its first 68 years before offering its first MD degree in 1973. Since then, its mission has come to focus heavily on producing physicians and other health professionals who will serve North Dakota and enhance the quality of life within the state, particularly among rural populations.
It also places a large emphasis on its commitment to educating Native American students, a particularly important effort considering that 6.4% of North Dakota’s population is of Native American descent. To that end, Native students can consider connecting with the Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program, which seeks to guide Native premed and medical students through a variety of support services, community-building activities, and professional development opportunities.
Degree programs at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
In addition to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program, UND SMHS offers 31 other postgraduate degrees in the health professions, spanning a wide array of specialties. They include:
Biomedical Engineering (MS or PhD)
Biomedical Sciences (MS or PhD)
Clinical and Translational Science (MS or PhD)
Clinical Psychology (PhD)
Counseling Psychology (PhD)
Doctor of Medicine / Biomedical Sciences (MD/PhD)
Indigenous Health (PhD)
Family Nurse Practitioner (MS or DNP)
Nurse Anesthesia (DNP)
Nursing (PhD)
Public Health (MPH)
Curriculum at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Within the MD program, medical students will take on a three-phase curriculum with a strong clinical focus. Its structure is as follows:
Phase 1: For 20 months, students gain a foundation in basic sciences, clinical skills, and pathology at the main Grand Forks campus.
Phase 2: For 14 months, students have clinical rotations at the Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck, or Minot campus. These rotations include seven clerkships in pediatrics, psychiatry, internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, neurology, and obstetrics/gynecology. For students interested in beginning their work with rural populations early, clinical opportunities like MILE and ROME offer positions in several specialties. Finally, before the end of this phase, students are also required to take a course and complete a research project in Clinical Epidemiology.
Phase 3: For the final phase, students take on an acting internship, six elective courses, and two required courses. One of the required courses is designed to prepare students for residency, and the other is focused on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.
Along the four-year journey of their medical degree program, UND SMHS med students can also participate in a large selection of opportunities that aim to enhance multicultural education. These include a Cultural Competency in Healthcare seminar, an elective course on HeLa - the Mother of Modern Science, and the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP).
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Part 4: Admissions strategies for North Dakota’s medical school
Strategy 1: Clearly demonstrate fit in your secondary essays for North Dakota’s medical school.
Demonstrating fit is a crucial skill when applying to any medical school, but it’s particularly important when applying to a program that seeks a very specific type of applicant. As an applicant to North Dakota’s only medical school, you’ll need to show off more than just your MCATscore(s), GPA, and extracurriculars.
Adcoms at UND SMHS will be on the lookout for demonstrable evidence that you have a meaningful connection to or interest in rural communities—and that you intend to help improve access to healthcare and quality of life for patients in North Dakota as a future physician.
The best means of providing that evidence to adcoms will be through your secondary essays and interviews, where you can share real-life experiences that illustrate how your own passions align with their mission as a medical school.
Secondary prompts can change from year to year, but UND SMHS’s prompts for the 2023-24 application cycle were particularly extensive, requiring eight essay responses from all applicants and two additional responses from applicants within specific categories—such as reapplicants. The eight required questions require applicants to provide evidence for their resilience, emotional intelligence, cultural competency, research experience, clinical experience, creativity, and leadership, among other qualities and qualifications.
In addition to telling specific stories from your life that illustrate your alignment with UND SMHS’s mission, you should also provide specific examples of opportunities you hope to get involved in as a future UND medical student. You might mention courses, seminars, clinical opportunities, or other extracurriculars—like Alive Library, an oral history project designed to help UND medical students learn how to respectfully and responsibly engage with individuals who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing health disparities or discrimination, so they can become better advocates for their future patients.
| North Dakota Medical Schools | |
|---|---|
| University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences |
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Strategy 2: Be ready to tell your story in your interview for medical school in North Dakota.
If your secondary application stands out to the UND SMHS adcom, you’ll have the opportunity to expand on the stories and plans you shared within your secondary essays by interviewing with them.
There’s no way to know exactly what questions will be asked, but the best way to prepare is to replicate the interview environment as closely as possible, then practice giving responses to several of the most common medical school interview questions until they feel like second nature.
Interviews with UND SMHS are conducted virtually with an interview team composed of three Med Student Adcom members, a current medical student, a basic scientist, and a clinician. So, if you can convince a few friends or family members to play the part of your interview panel, it may be helpful to practice giving responses within a group setting rather than just one-on-one.
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Gain instant access to the most common traditional and MMI interview questions, plus sample responses for each, to help you craft responses that lead to acceptances. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
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Final Thoughts
North Dakota’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences is an excellent choice for medical students seeking to serve rural and underserved patients within North Dakota. Its unique course offerings and curriculum requirements are designed to equip you with the tools you’ll need to bridge cultural gaps and make a lasting impact on healthcare access in a state with limited medical resources.
As a medical student there, you’ll be surrounded by a diverse community of future healthcare professionals—from clinical psychologists to anesthesiology nurses to physician-scientists—who will one day work alongside you to shape the future of medicine in North Dakota.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
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Appendix A: North Dakota medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in North Dakota (MD)
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Osteopathic medical schools in North Dakota (DO)
There are no osteopathic medical schools in North Dakota.
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Appendix B: North Dakota medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in North Dakota
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Private medical schools in North Dakota
There are no private medical schools in North Dakota.
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Appendix C: North Dakota medical schools by region
Medical Schools in eastern North Dakota
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
