Essentia Health Welcomes Pediatrician Dr. Mari Knudsen

Dr. Mari Knudsen, a pediatrician who attended school in Fargo, is proud to join the Essentia Health family. She started seeing patients at the Essentia Health-South University Clinic before transitioning to the Essentia Health-West Fargo The Lights Clinic on Dec. 19.

“We recently had our first child and, after being out of state for several years, decided it was time to head back to North Dakota to be closer to family,” Dr. Knudsen explained. “I had been a patient at Essentia in the past and did several rotations here during medical school, and remembered how everyone in the organization truly cared about patients and each other. I was excited to be given the opportunity to be part of Essentia’s team as a provider.”

Dr. Knudsen earned her medical degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks after receiving her bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University. She completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.

“I have always greatly enjoyed being around kids and interacting with them,” Dr. Knudsen said. “During medical school, it became clear that pediatrics was for me. I not only love working with kids, but I also enjoy the great variety of medicine that I get to practice in general pediatrics. I can see a newborn baby and an 18-year-old in the same morning and need to adjust my practice of medicine based on their age, taking into account how different both the physiology of their bodies and developmental stages of their minds are.”

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Knudsen, please call (701) 364-8900. To schedule online or to see her full profile, visit EssentiaHealth.org and click on “Doctors & Providers.”