University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School Celebrates 50th Anniversary

DULUTH, Minn. — Thursday marks year 50 for the medical school within UMD’s campus. For the past 5 decades, the medical school has given Bulldogs the opportunity to gain medical training to become future physicians.

Thursday, campus and city leaders came together to celebrate the milestone. Duluth’s campus provides a unique focus on rural family medicine, as well as Native American health.

The medical school’s Interim Regional Campus Dean, Kevin Diebel, said, “We’re very proud here on this campus to graduate students who have, at about a rate of 50%, to go out into working in rural communities. And we are actually the campus that’s graduated the second most individuals of Native American Heritage to become physicians in the country”.

The afternoon ribbon cutting took place to celebrate how long the medical school has been established. After remarks from the school’s leaders, there was a proclamation by Duluth’s Mayor Emily Larson.