School of Medicine and Health Sciences to present Doctor of Medicine degrees

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences will confer the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree during commencement at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, at the Chester Fritz Auditorium on the UND campus in Grand Forks. Sixty-four degree candidates will participate in the ceremony. The graduates have completed four years of medical education to earn their Doctor of Medicine, beginning with two years of instruction at the UND campus in Grand Forks, followed by two years learning and working with practicing physicians who volunteer to serve as their teachers in hospitals and clinics throughout North Dakota. Upon graduating, the doctors will complete their residencies, a period of advanced intensive training in their chosen medical specialty before independent practice as a physician. Depending on the medical specialty, medical school graduates complete anywhere from three to seven years of residency training after medical school. Claire Pomeroy, M.D., M.B.A., president of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, will deliver the keynote address titled The Physician\u27s Call to Justice: Healing Patients, Healing the World. She serves as chief executive officer of the Foundation and is responsible for overseeing the implementation of programs that advance the Foundation\u27s mission. An expert in infectious diseases, Pomeroy is a longtime advocate for patients, especially those with HIV/AIDS, and public health. She passionately supports ongoing investment in the full range of research. She continues to lead an active research team studying host responses to viral infections. She has a special interest in healthcare policy, with a focus on the importance of the social determinants of health. She has published more than 100 articles and book chapters and edited three books. Pomeroy received her bachelor\u27s and medical degrees from the University of Michigan and completed her residency and fellowship training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. She earned an MBA from the University of Kentucky