Reader's View: Duluth medical students eager to heal

As the days become shorter and stray trees burst of maroon and gold, the northwoods whisper with a promise. The Class of 2028 has arrived at the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota Medical School. And, like classes before it, students have arrived with hearts full and eyes wide, ready to walk the path of medicine — not just as students but as our future healers.

These individuals know that the health of a community is the health of its people. They have come to learn, to listen, and to serve. In their hands, the future of rural and Indigenous health in Minnesota and beyond is bright. They strive to fulfill the longstanding mission of the Duluth campus, which welcomed its first class in 1972.

No student can walk this path alone, and we acknowledge that our partnerships with Essentia, Aspirus St. Luke's, and providers across all of Minnesota are essential. We are grateful to those in the health systems and throughout the community who have engaged with our students and who have been the steady hands and calm voices in their times of need.

With this, we are excited to announce a transition to a full, four-year MD program for the class of 2029.

We acknowledge that this journey is not easy, but it is right. The work is hard, but it is good. I'm proud and grateful to be a part of this process as we work to better health care outcomes in our region and the state with these existing partnerships and the many more yet to come in the years ahead.

Kevin Diebel