Chief Residents’ View
Thanks for checking out Montana Family Medicine Residency (MFMR) in Billings, MT! As a quick backstory, MFMR was started 26 years ago and was the first family medicine residency in Montana. Our residency program is located in beautiful Billings, which can be considered the medical hub for Eastern Montana, Northern Wyoming, and the Western Dakotas. We are proud to partner with the three major medical systems in Billings; RiverStone Health, SCL Health St. Vincent/Intermountain Health, and Billings Clinic. This offers our residents a wide variety of educational opportunities in many different aspects of medicine. We have also recently partnered with the VA here in town where we are working on increased opportunities to practice procedures.
We hold our continuity clinic for outpatient care at RiverStone Health Clinic, located just down the road from the two hospitals, Billings Clinic and SCL Health St. Vincent/Intermountain Healthcare. RiverStone Health Clinic is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) certified as a NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home, and the clinic itself was reconstructed in 2018. It features state-of-the-art equipment and was designed with improved patient care in mind. The clinic features a designated attending preceptor room, a well-equipped behavioral health team, in house clinical pharmacists, acute care clinic, dental clinic, clinical pharmacy team, dedicated care managers, immunization clinic, WIC and family services, Ryan White clinic, Hep C clinic, attached pharmacy, and the public health department for Yellowstone County. RiverStone Health also has satellite clinics that include two school-based clinics, two Healthcare for the Homeless clinics, and rural clinics located in the nearby towns of Bridger, Joliet, and Worden.
Billings really is a great, family-friendly place to live. There is no shortage of things to do in Montana’s largest city. It is home to numerous great breweries, restaurants, and places to shop. A regional hub for business and travel, Billings (population 110,000) attracts musicians and other entertainment comparable to a much larger city. Billings boasts its own symphony and choir, wonderful museums, live theater companies, and numerous art galleries. The Yellowstone River flows through town, flanked by picturesque sandstone cliffs known as the Rimrocks. There are many outdoor activities to take part in including rock climbing on the rims as well as hiking, running, or biking any one of the great trails the area has to offer. The inspiring Beartooth Mountains are just over an hour away and offer great camping, hiking, and fishing in mountain lakes. In the winter, skiing is close at Red Lodge Mountain. There are plenty of rivers nearby to fish or float when the weather is warm; the Bighorn, Stillwater, and Yellowstone are easily accessible. If you are wanting to hit the road for a day trip or the weekend, Billings is located just three hours away from Yellowstone National Park, two hours from Bozeman, and just north of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and Black Hills of South Dakota.
What really sets our program apart are our residents and faculty. Our faculty are kind, supportive, engaging, and passionate about education with a variety of interests including full spectrum family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, rural medicine, hospital medicine, sports medicine, infectious disease, addiction medicine, osteopathic medicine, and wilderness medicine. Our residents are a diverse group who come from many different locations and backgrounds. We get together often for dinners and events, and truly have a “family” type feel among the residents as a whole. Many of us are “outdoorsy” type folk and love getting outside as much as possible, while others enjoy getting together for board games and indoor fun. Some of our residents even volunteer at the local ski resort, Red Lodge Mountain, as ski patrol. We feel very lucky to have such a tight-knit group of residents, and our relationship with the faculty is no different. This is truly a unique and special place to learn the ins and outs of full spectrum family medicine, and we hope to have the opportunity to learn family medicine with you under the Big Sky of Montana. If you’re interested in learning more, we would love to hear from you, please feel free to reach out to us!
Christian Kilpatrick, DO & Ruth Chadwick, MD, MPH
Chief Residents for the Class of 2023