Former Bigfork resident Michael Bedford headed to Browning for a few weeks this summer to participate in a medical internship at Blackfeet Community Hospital. The second-year medical student said it’s part of his long-term goal to work in rural communities. 

Bedford was accepted into the University of Washington School of Medicine’s WWAMI program, an acronym for a program covering Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Students from those states can complete their first 18 months there and get in-state tuition.  

A 2018 graduate from Bigfork High School, Bedford currently attends Montana State University in Bozeman. He said he applied to the Rural Underserved Opportunities Program to get more clinical experience over the summer. Under the mentorship of Dr. Joe Gray at Blackfeet Community Hospital, Bedford will be immersing himself in the heart of Browning from July 13 to Aug. 9. 

The Blackfeet Community Hospital is a 28-bed facility and includes a CT unit located within a fully digitized radiology and lab service department. 

Bedford said he’s passionate about making health care better in rural communities, particularly on reservations.  

“I wanted to be at least a small part of helping the community, whether that be in medicine or volunteering. I hear Browning has a great food drive, too ... so, the opportunity to help them out in a way that could serve the community, as well as in health care, to give me good experience and become a better doctor in the future,” Bedford said.  

He hopes to eventually work in internal medicine as a hospitalist, which is a patient’s attending physician when they are admitted to a hospital. Similar to family medicine, the hospitalist can connect their patients with specialists and help coordinate their care during their stay. 

Growing up in Montana, Bedford said he’s been interested in working on rural reservations after hearing from people in his community about disparities there, as well as what he learned from friends in college who grew up on reservations. 

He and other medical students visited Hardin earlier this year, just north of the Crow reservation. Bedford said they looked at what was going well there, in addition to issues that the community faced, such as the area being a food desert. 

“You don't have to look very far to notice the health disparities that are within the reservation communities,” Bedford said.  

Working at Blackfeet Community Hospital will give him hands-on experience with internal medicine, labor and delivery, and family medicine. He may also watch certain surgeries. 

Ninety-one students with the multi-state medical school program have signed up for rural rotations this summer. Information from the University of Washington School of Medicine suggests that the program influences students toward a primary care career. In the 2025 residency match, 54% of students participating chose a residency in general internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics. 

Bedford, having already completed four years as an undergrad, will complete another four years as a medical student. He said the first year-and-a-half of that is a foundation phase, where students primarily focus on classroom learning.  For the following 2 1/2 years, he will rotate through clerkships before graduating and being placed in a residency.  

“I've always had the mindset that if I could just make a difference even in one person's life, that would just be really what I want to do — to give them a positive experience in health care and eliminate some of the fear they've had. I want to do that, especially in a community that's fairly close to where I grew up, here in Bigfork,” Bedford said.  

Reporter Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or [email protected].