Treating your hairiest family members, whether that’s your dog or your dad
The University of Minnesota has one of the largest, most comprehensive academic health sciences centers in the nation, with schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and veterinary medicine.
That means our patients are young and old, animal and human, two-legged and four-legged. It means that from your pearly whites to your sleepless nights, the University of Minnesota has health solutions for you and your family (pet spiders and fish included).
Our researchers are discovering new interventions and prevention strategies that not only empower health and improve lives in Minnesota and beyond, but ultimately lead to more effective and less costly care. Through all of this, we pass on this knowledge and the legacy of giving patients innovative and compassionate care to the next generation of caregivers—our students—who fill vital roles in our communities in Minnesota and around the nation.
Here are just a few examples of how the University of Minnesota is caring for patients from A … to bee.
The University of Minnesota Medical School is one of the largest in the country, with campuses in Minneapolis, Duluth, and St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Making sure humans—and man’s best friend—stay together longer
Hemangiosarcoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer in dogs, with a nearly 100 percent mortality rate within two years of diagnosis. So when researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and the Masonic Cancer Center identified the likely origin for this deadly canine cancer, our canine friends no doubt barked a sigh of relief.
And because these findings could pave the way for new therapies for dogs diagnosed with the devastating disease, people diagnosed with angiosarcoma—a similar cancer that occurs in humans—could someday be there for our furry friends that much longer.
Now treating all patients, whether you’re a honeybee or just somebody’s honey
The honeybee might seem like an unlikely patient, but with our food supply largely dependent on honeybees and other pollinators, the health of honeybees and humans are closely intertwined. Since bees, like other animals, are susceptible to bacterial and viral infections—and because bees are so central to the general ecosystem—a bee epidemic could have serious consequences.
That’s why students at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine are learning how to diagnose and treat bee illnesses, marking the rise of bee medicine as a legitimate veterinary discipline.
No cavities, and no cancer
We might not think of dentistry as a life-saving endeavor, but with the right kind of training, it can be. For Howard Quinlan, a visit to the University of Minnesota’s School of Dentistry not only kept his teeth clean—it saved his life.
As dental student Ellie Fekrazad (DDS, ’25) performed an examination on Quinlan, she found a lump in his neck. Quinlan was advised to connect with his ear, nose, and throat doctor, who biopsied the lump and found it positive for cancer. He quickly underwent surgery and today is cancer free.
Quinlan credits the School of Dentistry as saving his life. And it all happened because University of Minnesota dental students are taught the importance of collecting a full patient history and recording patient vitals at every appointment, including blood pressure and a head and neck examination. It’s what’s called holistic patient care—a whole-health approach to dentistry.
“Having these teaching institutions in our community is vital to our overall culture and society,” he says. “The professional schools do their part to turn out wonderful practitioners, and the University feels like part of our family, as well.
“My four children and my wife certainly agree and give their thanks to the University and the [dental] school.”
How a whole-health approach to dentistry saved one patient's life
Helping heroes get the care they deserve
About 77 percent of veterans report pain control as among their top three priorities in primary care, while two-thirds report that pain significantly limits what they can do and drives them to frequently seek healthcare.
For those veterans living in rural areas, the picture gets more complicated. Accessing safe and effective care for pain can be difficult.
“In short, rural veterans are more severely impacted by pain but have fewer options for care,” says Roni Evans, director of the University of Minnesota Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing’s Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program.
That’s why researchers are developing a comprehensive pain management program for rural veterans.
“There is an opportunity to better connect them to … health approaches that address pain in a more cohesive way,” says Evans.
Making Greater Minnesota even greater
It’s not just veterans in rural areas who struggle to access great healthcare. For years, rural Minnesota has faced a shortage of family physicians, and that gap is projected to grow perilously wider. One in three rural physicians plans to leave the workforce within the next five years, just as Minnesota’s population of older adults continues to expand.
Fortunately, healthcare providers and Minnesotans continue to benefit from the University of Minnesota’s Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP)—an innovative and incredibly successful 54-year-old initiative designed to showcase the benefits of practicing medicine in rural Minnesota and provide a pipeline of doctors interested in rural primary care. RPAP offers third-year medical students the opportunity to live and train for nine months in a smaller community.
Since its founding in 1971, the program has trained over 1,700 physicians who have been hosted in more than 120 rural communities in Minnesota and western Wisconsin—ranging in size from 300 to over 30,000 residents.
The students make connections with people in their adopted towns, who often take them under their wing and discover the benefits of living in a rural community. Learn how Bigfork, Minnesota, is a giant billboard of the program’s success.
Keeping our avian friends aviating
Bees aren’t the only patients with wings treated at the University of Minnesota. On the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Saint Paul sits a center unique to the Midwest and renowned around the nation and world—The Raptor Center, housed within the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Raptors—think eagles, hawks, ospreys, falcons, owls, kestrels, and more—sit at the top of the food chain.
The University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center cares for more than 1,000 birds annually, while also advancing research, education, and conservation of raptors, setting the standard for avian rehabilitation. And because all animal species in an ecosystem are linked, raptors at the top of the food chain can be a leading indicator that something is wrong in our environment. What goes on up there with the birds may affect us all—unless we keep an eye on the sky.
A beacon of health and wellness in the Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota’s Community-University Health Care Center is a beacon of health and wellness in the Twin Cities for more than 10,000 patients each year, many from underserved populations. In the nearly 60 years since its founding, the center has developed into a "one-stop shop" for people of all ages in the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, providing an integrated, whole-person care approach to patients of at least 12 different racial and ethnic communities. The clinic offers services to all in need, insured or not, on a sliding-fee scale.
"We serve the people that really need help and are stuck without having a lot of other resources," says Andrea Davis, family nurse practitioner and co-medical director at the clinic. "That population is in such need, and we are so happy to help provide those services."
In 2023 the Community-University Health Care Center saw nearly 11,000 unique patients over the course of 49,000 patient visits. The center provides access to an entire array of services, including medical, dental, and mental health care.
Minnesota's Healthcare Leader
The University of Minnesota plays a vital role in Minnesota's healthcare ecosystem by providing comprehensive education, cutting-edge research, and innovative clinical services.
Learn more about how we’re working to benefit the health of all Minnesotans.