I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Vanderbilt University followed by four years in the U.S. Navy as an officer. I then attended the University of Louisville School of Medicine where I obtained my M.D., graduating magna cum laude. I completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, where I also served an extra year as Chief Medical Resident. I then moved to Hardin, Montana, where I worked for the Indian Health Service (IHS) on the Crow Indian Reservation for over twenty years, providing care to patients through the clinics, emergency department, and in the hospital. After retiring from the IHS I worked part-time as a hospitalist at St. Vincent’s Healthcare in Billings, Montana. I also helped found and worked part time at Bighorn Valley Health Center, now called OneHealth, a federally-qualified health center in Hardin, Montana.
I am board-certified in Internal Medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine. Internal medicine specialists like me have training in the diagnosis, non-surgical management, and prevention of diseases affecting primarily adults, including understanding of processes that may start in childhood. While working for the IHS I served many years as clinical director for the Crow/Northern Cheyenne IHS Hospital and was also Chair of the National Council of Clinical Directors for the IHS. I was governor of the Montana Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP) from 2004-2008, as well as recipient of the Montana ACP Laureate Award in 2009. In 2019 I was awarded a Humanitarian award by the Montana Chapter of ACP for my work on climate change and human health.