Good medicine for region

The new family practice residency program that was brought to fruition by the University of Montana is a stroke of good fortune for Western Montana.

Because the state doesn’t have its own medical school, we should consider ourselves lucky to have a program that will recruit 10 medical school graduates to three-year residencies every year starting next summer. That will eventually translate to an additional 30 doctors working in a state with a growing elderly population and a gradually shrinking roster of doctors.

The residents will be dispersed to partners in the program that include Kalispell Regional Medical Center, the two Missoula hospitals and the community health centers in Missoula and Kalispell. Through those health care hubs, the residents will ultimately be able to work in more remote locations that need doctors, whether it be Ronan, Libby or Eureka.

Again, Montana doesn’t have a medical school or any leverage or incentives to recruit medical school graduates. But it does have home-grown students who graduate from Montana colleges and go on to medical school in other states. The UM residency program will have a focus on recruiting those students, particularly 25 Montana students that are sent to the University of Washington’s medical school every year. 

The idea is that those doctors will be the most likely to stay in Montana when their residencies are finished. Like other rural states, Montana needs to be creative in establishing gravity for attracting talented medical professionals. 

The University of Montana is off to a good start with a synergetic, cooperative program that has potential to grow.