UND Public Health Program

👏👏 Another great Dakota Conference on Rural Health! of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff for showcasing their valuable work.

The Dakota Conference on Rural Health is finally here and we really enjoyed Day 1!

North Dakota's public health professionals make up an unmatched network of caregivers, reaching every corner of our state with skill and passion, and to all of them we are thankful. 🫶

Still considering your next step in public health? 🤔It’s not too late to apply for Fall 2026 admission to the UND Public Health Program — including the Master of Public Health (MPH) and the Public Health Graduate Certificate!

📅 Deadline: August 3
Apply now ➡️
https://med.und.edu/.../public.../masters/admissions.html

Make an impact. Start your public health journey with
us. 🌟

📣 Amazing (awesome, astounding, awe-inspiring) alumni alert!

Stacie ('24) was just published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, one outcome from her MPH Applied Practice Experience at Mayo Clinic. Their work focused on the prediction of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction with AI electrocardiography. This work is an important contribution to enhancing the lives of those with atrial fibrillation.

Lucky us -- Stacie is now a medical student at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences, so we still get to see her around! 💚

A link to the article is located in the comments.

Congratulations to Isaac Karikari '25 alumni who recently had his ILE paper published with his advisor, Dr. Andrew Williams:

𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 (𝑵𝒐-𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔) 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝑹𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍-𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔.
Missed appointments at rural Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) undermine care continuity, strain limited resources, and exacerbate health disparities. This study analyzed 12,454 appointments from 321 patients in a rural North Dakota FQHC and found a 23.9% no show rate. Older age, and female gender identity were significantly associated with fewer missed visits, highlighting the influence of demographic factors. Higher no show among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic patients, and among self pay or Medicaid Expansion patients, point to structural inequities. Findings underscore the need for policies that strengthen transportation access, integrate social risk screening, leverage zip code–level data for targeted interventions, and invest in rural care coordination to improve appointment adherence and reduce disparities.

https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2026.2672483

As we celebrate our graduates, we’re also celebrating these incredible faculty who helped them reach this milestone.

These are the people who stay late, support consistently, open new doors, and celebrate wholeheartedly when students reach the finish line.

We thank you and celebrate you! 💚

Celebrating 𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 of Ivy at the University of North Dakota! ✨

Ivy is magic. She coordinates activities like a pro, brings ideas that are both creative and practical, and lifts the team with her positivity. Here is what some of her colleagues appreciate most about her:

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘐𝘷𝘺'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴! 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭.

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦.

𝘐𝘷𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝘐𝘷𝘺’𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 – 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘨!

We’re better because she’s here. 💛

P.S. Run, don't walk, to the North Dakota Museum of Art to see the full exhibit pictured behind Ivy 🧤

🎓 Congratulations to Jodi on earning her Master of Public Health with a specialization in Indigenous Health!

Jodi is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in Belcourt, ND, and after graduation, she plans to continue working with the Turtle Mountain Public Health Department, supporting community health initiatives.

Her career goal is to continue growing in prevention work and Indigenous public health while helping create culturally grounded programs that support the health and wellbeing of Tribal communities.

When she’s not working or studying, Jodi enjoys spending time with her kids and family — whether at community events, traveling, or simply making memories together. ❤️

Excited to share that Melissa will be graduating with her Master of Public Health, specializing in Health Management & Policy! 🎓

With the completion of her MPH, she hopes to contribute to public health programs through research, writing, and evidence-based solutions that create lasting impact — especially for women and Veterans in rural communities.

Next step? Spending some down time with her kids and hopefully adopting a dog 🐶

Fun fact: Melissa read over 100 books in a single year 📚