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DEAN’S LETTERBreaking groundandsowing seedsAS THIS YEAR WINDS DOWN, IT ISappropriate to look back—and lookforward. It has been a memorable yearin many regards. I am now into mysixth month as dean of your Schoolafter serving for a year as interim dean.I’ve had the opportunity to engage in avariety of discussions with manystakeholders across the state and havecome away from those visits with aneven better understanding of the manycontributions that the School makes tothe health and vitality of North Dakota.The tripartite activities of the School—education, scholarship, and service tothe community—are intertwined andinterrelated. But they all coalescearound the people of North Dakotaand are focused on improving thehealth of all in our community.As I look back over this past year,here are a few of our notableachievements:• We recently broke ground forthe construction of a new clinicbuilding in Bismarck to houseour Center for Family Medicineand campus offices. Thisbuilding will permit us to betterserve the citizens of Bismarck.The building process broughttogether the two Bismarckhospitals, the city, the universitysystem, and the SMHS in avery successful effort to findthe optimal location andconfiguration for the facility.• A new master of public health(MPH) certificate and degreeprogram has been approved bythe State Board of HigherEducation. As the health caresystem focuses more onpopulation health andprevention, better training inpublic health will be essential.Our program is unique in thatthe two research universitieshave partnered with each otherto offer this program as a trulyjoint endeavor. By takingadvantage of the strengths ofNorth Dakota State Universityand the University of NorthDakota, we have minimizedthe cost of the program andexpanded the educationalopportunities for students in away that has never been donebefore. We hope to enroll ourfirst students in the nextacademic year. Although wewill require additional financialsupport from the state to fullyimplement the program, ourbudget request has been fullyendorsed by the State Board ofHigher Education and isawaiting action by theupcoming Legislature.4 NORTH DAKOTA MEDICINE Holiday 2010