Homegrown doctors hope to give back to Montana American Indian community

Come back. Give back. That’s how Kris Cunningham describes what he and some of his classmates in the Montana Family Practice Residency want to do.

Cunningham, a member of the Crow Indian Tribe from Billings, is one of five Montanans, three of whom are American Indians, in the residency’s incoming class.

The post-graduate training program for doctors accepts six new residents a year, and it is rare for classes to be brimming with Montanans.

It is even more rare for half a class to be made up of American Indians. Just two other American Indian doctors have studied at the residency in its 10-year history.

By DIANE COCHRAN
Of The Gazette Staff

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/08/10/news/local/25-homegrown.txt