USD School of Medicine celebrating 50 years of granting medical degrees

VERMILLION, S.D.(KELO)- The USD School of Medicine is celebrating 50 years of granting four-year medical degrees, with more than 25-hundred graduates.

Med School Dean, Dr. Tim Ridgeway, says many of those graduates are returning to practice medicine in the state…and are making a big difference in treating conditions that affect the state’s residents.

25-hundred Medical School Graduates in 50 years.

Those are numbers worth celebrating…which is exactly what South Dakota’s Medical School is doing.

Ridgeway, says graduates rank in the top quartile of all medical school graduates nationwide.

And, he says, rural areas of the state are reaping the benefits.

The USD School of Medicine is celebrating the past…with an eye toward the future.

The advent of Artificial Intelligence will play a growing role in medical treatment…but Ridgeway says the personal touch will still be important.

Dr. Ridgeway says over half of all USD Med School graduates return to practice medicine in the state.