Students in simulation lab at SSOM Sioux Falls

USD Sanford School of Medicine Sioux Falls Transition

Learn more about the Sanford School of Medicine’s plans in Sioux Falls and how this transition will serve communities across South Dakota.

Shaping the Future of Medicine in South Dakota

As announced in August of 2025, the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine will move the first 18 months of its M.D. program (Pillar 1 of medical education), its Medical Student Affairs office and its Division of Biomedical and Translational Sciences to Sioux Falls. Pillar 1 and medical student support services will relocate to Sioux Falls by the summer of 2028 thanks to a commitment from Sanford Health to provide a building for the program on its campus and to Avera for providing classroom space to enhance collaboration and integration opportunities with health systems in Sioux Falls.

This change serves as an opportunity to enhance students' educational experiences, strengthen collaboration with the state's health care systems, expand research and better serve communities across South Dakota.

Watch the Press Conference

Media Coverage

Our Community-Based Approach | KELOLAND
Transitioning Courses to Sioux Falls | KOTA
Transitioning Courses to Sioux Falls | KELOLAND
What's Next for SSOM- Sioux Falls? | DAKOTA NEWS NOW

Transition Plans

Relocating Pillar 1 of USD's Doctor of Medicine program to Sioux Falls is an important step in continuing to improve quality health care in South Dakota. This change will allow the USD Sanford School of Medicine to:

Enhance students’ pre-clinical education by giving them more opportunities to work with and learn from clinical faculty. Clinical integration with biomedical science content can lead to better knowledge retention.
Connect students with more hands-on learning opportunities, enhancing their preparedness for competitive residencies.
Better position the SSOM to recruit and retain expert faculty, including those already located in Sioux Falls and employed by South Dakota’s major health care systems.

In 2024 the USD Sanford School of Medicine celebrated 50 years of offering the four-year M.D. degree. This marked a long-standing legacy of building the state's health care workforce and promoting the health and well-being of South Dakotans.

In those 50 years, medical education has evolved, as have the needs of South Dakota's health care systems; from an increased demand for physicians with specialized training to the need for students to have enhanced pre-clinical experience to maximize their competitiveness for residencies, USD has assessed the needs of our medical school and our state. With those priorities identified and resources available in Sioux Falls, we have an opportunity to shape the next 50 years of medical education and further support the state's health care systems through this consolidation.

The Talley Building is adjacent to the medical school’s existing facility on Sanford Health’s main Sioux Falls campus. This offers invaluable proximity to the current medical school campus in Sioux Falls, creating efficiencies, offering convenience for medical school students and promoting opportunities for collaborating. Avera’s facilities will expand the learning opportunities that the medical school can offer and promote additional opportunities for collaboration.

Proximity to hospitals is essential for research and clinical skills alike; through this transition, the medical school will expand the learning and research activities made possible alongside Avera, Sanford Health and the VA Sioux Falls Healthcare System. With the opportunity to engage with physicians during the first 18 months of their training, future physicians will have a strong foundation rooted in real-world experience and patient care.

The USD Sanford School of Medicine considered multiple options for a location in Sioux Falls, including options to build a new facility or explore existing facilities. The university is moving forward with a plan that prioritizes the quality of our medical education alongside cost-efficiency, collaboration with health systems and timeline considerations.

Pillar 1 of USD’s M.D. program and medical student support services will be housed in Sanford Health’s Talley Building, which is adjacent to the medical school’s existing facility on Sanford Health’s main Sioux Falls campus. The building is named after Dr. Robert Talley, who served as dean of the USD Sanford School of Medicine and was a driving force in initially establishing the medical school’s presence in Sioux Falls. This location enables the medical school to expand its current footprint in the city and renovate an existing medical facility. Students will benefit from close access to faculty and support services. Avera is providing educational space in Sioux Falls, as well as further opportunities for collaboration. These plans offer a cost-effective path forward and enable USD to expedite the transition.

In renovating the Talley Building, the USD Sanford School of Medicine will invest in enhancements to medical education and student learning environments—including enhancing classroom spaces, lecture halls and active classrooms, which are designed to better facilitate movement and group work; expanding space for programs that are in high demand and support the needs of South Dakotans, such as neurology and cardiology; and growing student support services, such as study aids, additional career counseling resources and mental health services.

In April of 2026, the USD Sanford School of Medicine announced that it would be expediting the transition of the M.D. program from Vermillion to Sioux Falls. The medical school will now bypass the temporary phase of its transition plan and expects to move to its new location in Sioux Falls by the summer of 2028.

Students who start their M.D. program in fall of 2027 will complete the first year of Pillar 1 in Vermillion and will transition to Sioux Falls for the last few months of Pillar 1. Students who start their M.D. program in fall of 2028 will begin their education in Sioux Falls.

USD plans to move the Division of Biomedical & Translational Sciences to Sioux Falls. Sanford Health and Avera are partners in this effort, and USD looks forward to opportunities for collaborative research alongside the health systems. Sanford Health is providing a new anatomy lab to begin the process. Going forward, the medical school will be well positioned to expand its research capacity and pursue medical advancements that will impact communities across the state. Additional details about plans for research will be shared in the coming months.

The university plans to pursue traditional funding sources for this capital project, including public and private support, grant opportunities and the reallocation of internal resources currently supporting the medical school operations in our current locations in Vermillion and Sioux Falls.

Gifts of any size help USD offer the best possible medical education to our students and serve communities across the state. Your support is an investment in our students and faculty as we shape this next chapter of medicine in South Dakota. You can learn more and make a donation on our secure giving website.

Donation

The building that currently houses medical education in Vermillion—the Andrew E. Lee Memorial Medicine & Science Building—will be renovated to house several programs in the sciences. This offers a cost-effective solution to rebuilding the Akeley-Lawrence Building, which has experienced significant foundation and structural issues beyond the reasonable cost of repair; this solution, when compared to alternative plans of rebuilding, is expected to offer a cost savings of $15 million.

This change will not only address the existing needs met by the Akeley-Lawrence Building but will also bring together programs that are currently spread out across campus to spur greater collaboration in research and teaching. The centerpiece of this effort will be an Interdisciplinary Data Sciences Laboratory: a multipurpose, collaborative space designed for teaching and research across disciplines, promoting better understanding of and ability to harness the transformational power of data.

Impact on USD and Communities

The USD Sanford School of Medicine will continue to operate throughout this transition, with continued research activities and educational experiences.

The timeline of a student’s medical education will not change due to this move; the M.D. program curriculum will still be organized into three pillars that span the course of four years. The greatest impact will be on the quality of education and the amount of preparation our students have as they go out into communities; students will have the opportunity to access more pre-clinical experience early in their education, as well as enhanced research opportunities.

The USD Sanford School of Medicine works closely with the state’s four major health systems—Avera, Monument Health, Sanford Health and Veterans Affairs Health—to collaborate on research, offer students hands-on learning experiences and serve communities across the state. Students are placed with the various health systems during their education, offering a breadth of training opportunities and support.

For example, last year’s Pillar 2 placements were as follows:

Avera Sioux Falls – 17 students
Sanford Sioux Falls-17 students
FARM sites – 13 students (7 at Avera sites, 3 at Sanford sites, 2 at Monument and 1 in Mobridge)
Avera Yankton – 12 students
Monument Rapid City – 12 students

After their training, USD’s medical school graduates go on to serve communities across the state through employment in these health care systems.

USD's medical school is also strengthened by physician faculty who are employed by the health systems. The USD Sanford School of Medicine has approximately 2,200 faculty throughout the state of South Dakota, with more than 1,800 holding an M.D. or D.O. Those 2,200 faculty represent a number of specialties and include physicians from every major health system in South Dakota, as well as retired physicians, physicians in independent practices and medical residents. This breadth ensures a balanced education with a wide range of perspectives offered to our students.

USD’s medical school has had a presence in Sioux Falls for more than 50 years, including a physical presence in its Health Science Center since 1994. This transition builds upon long-standing partnerships with Sanford Health and Avera, both of which have provided support through residency programs and other collaborations.

With facilities provided by and shared with Sanford Health and Avera, USD and the health systems continue to work closely together. One example of these partnerships evolving includes the provided active learning spaces; Sanford Health and Avera are supporting learning environments that prioritize hands-on experiences and immersive learning during students’ pre-clinical education. This modern approach to learning spaces will enhance the medical education experience and give medical students earlier exposure to environments that reflect real-world care.

With Avera, Sanford Health and VA Sioux Falls Health located in Sioux Falls, USD and the health systems will have more opportunities for close collaboration. USD is committed to being a strong partner to the state’s health systems.

The USD Sanford School of Medicine’s Yankton and Rapid City campuses will continue to operate in those communities; there will be no changes to operations at those sites.

Students will also continue to receive clinical education through the FARM program, with seven communities in South Dakota currently participating: Chamberlain, Milbank, Mobridge, Parkston, Pierre, Spearfish and Vermillion.

The USD Sanford School of Medicine is committed to addressing the health care needs of the state and improving the lives of South Dakotans. Through this transition, the medical school will not only continue to serve rural areas through its existing programs; it will also enhance training opportunities that respond directly to the needs in South Dakota's rural communities.

Continuing Support of Rural Health Care Experiences

The USD Sanford School of Medicine will continue to require a second-year family medicine preceptorship and fourth-year family medicine experience. Exposing students to rural practice has been demonstrated to improve recruitment to practice in these areas. Our students’ pre-clinical education will be in Sioux Falls, where they will have the advantage to learn from many clinical faculty from Avera, Sanford and VA health systems. Our commitment to our clinical campuses in Rapid City, Yankton and FARM sites will not waiver, where students will receive their clinical education in the latter months of year 2, and years 3 and 4.

Introducing New Specialties That South Dakota Needs

The medical school currently includes clinical departments focused on family medicine, internal medicine, neurosciences, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, with an emergency medicine department in development. These departments provide future physicians with the knowledge and experiences they need to deliver specialized care—but there are additional specialties that are in high demand in South Dakota. At its Sioux Falls site, the USD Sanford School of Medicine will have the space to expand its academic programming to accommodate additional specialties that South Dakota needs, such as anesthesiology, dermatology, orthopedic surgery and others.

Currently, approximately 70 academic faculty and staff work at the USD Sanford School of Medicine’s Vermillion location, including some who live in the Sioux Falls area.

Each incoming class of medical students in the Sanford School of Medicine includes 71 students. Only students who are in Pillar 1 during the 2027-2028 academic year will be directly impacted by this transition, with Pillar 1 relocating during that time. The medical school will maintain close communication with this class of M.D. students to ensure they are informed about the timeline and locations for their medical education.

There will be resources available to support impacted individuals through this transition; please see the resources section below.

Resources

We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for our students while further enhancing their education. Students will have opportunities to learn more as plans progress over the next two years.

We recognize that each faculty and staff member in the Sanford School of Medicine will be impacted by this move in different ways, and we are committed to providing timely and relevant information as we navigate this transition. Faculty and staff can visit this Coyote One Stop article for more information.

If you have questions about this transition, please send an email to [email protected].

About the Sanford School of Medicine

Since 1907, the Sanford School of Medicine has served South Dakota as its only school of medicine, playing an important role in building the state's health care workforce, providing quality care and upholding strong partnerships across the state. With an award-winning curriculum, our school prepares medical students to practice in all fields of medicine and is recognized for our reputation in family medicine and rural medicine. In addition to the M.D., the Sanford School of Medicine offers graduate degrees in biomedical and translational sciences, sustains a vibrant and forward-looking research agenda and is home to the interdisciplinary Center for Brain and Behavioral Research. Learn more about the medical school.

The curriculum in USD's M.D. program is organized into three pillars that span four years. The pillars begin by providing students with a foundational knowledge base and progress through a number of hands-on experiences in various settings; the program prepares students to build competency in patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. You can read about each pillar on the Office of Medical Education webpage.

After their four years of medical school at USD, students go on to pursue residencies and fellowships to complete their medical education and become practicing physicians.

The Division of Biomedical & Translational Sciences, which is housed in the USD Sanford School of Medicine, creates an environment of innovative and interdisciplinary research aimed at examining human disease. Biomedical scientists ask questions and find solutions to examine human disease and advance medicine. Through biomedical research, experts can expand our understanding of health and improve the human condition. USD offers an M.S. and a Ph.D. in biomedical and translational sciences.

Featured News

A USD Sanford School of Medicine student wears a white coat with the SSOM badge, in red, on the white coat's sleeve.

Aug 14, 2025

USD Sanford School of Medicine Announces It Will Move First 18 Months of M.D. to Sioux Falls

The University of South Dakota has announced that the USD Sanford School of Medicine will move the first 18 months of the Doctor of Medicine program from Vermillion to Sioux Falls starting in summer of 2027.