Montana must grow its own doctors

To address the widespread need for family doctors, Montana must train its own. That was the idea behind establishing the Montana Family Medicine Residency more than a decade ago.

Establishing a medical residency in a state with no medical school was a huge challenge that has paid off tremendously for the people of Montana. Since the first class of six graduated in 1998, 44 have gone to work in Montana and provide medical care in 18 Montana communities from Miles City to Libby.

The fact that 70 percent of the grads have stayed in Montana is even more impressive when considering that only 34 percent had lived in Montana before they started their residency training. The residency has helped Montana successfully recruit new doctors who came from all over the United States to practice medicine here.

How to get more primary-care doctors for the state

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2009/07/14/opinion/hjjajcifjhefje.txt