Native American physician finds blessings in serving community
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ST. IGNATIUS — When LeeAnna Muzquiz was growing up, she didn’t know of any Native American doctors working on the Flathead Reservation or anywhere. She had thought about a career in medicine but didn’t think it was feasible. It was a dream not yet formed but a path she was unknowingly already on.
Muzquiz said she was always good at math and science and credits her teachers for pushing her to enroll in programs that fostered these skills.
“I just thought they were fun programs,” the Ronan native said. “Luckily people saw things in me I didn’t see in myself.”
Muzquiz graduated from Ronan High School in 1989 and enrolled in Montana State University’s pre-med program.
While at MSU Muzquiz found college social life distracting and soon her grades slipped. It was after the death of her father, LeRoy Irvin, that gave her the strength and motivation to return to school with a new vigor.
In 1994, Muzquiz graduated from MSU with a degree in microbiology and a minor in Native American Studies. She worked as MSU’s first minority recruiter for a few years before she enrolled in the WWAMI program, which is a medical school program of the University of Washington School of Medicine and the states of Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The program makes medical education accessible to 20 Montana students each year.
“I didn’t think medical school was a possibility,” Muzquiz remembered.
In 2002, she graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine and returned home a physician ready to give back to her community.
“I have a lot of Native American doctor friends and everyone has that intention (to go home),” Muzquiz said. “It’s really hard to come home for a variety of reasons.”
But the young woman’s decision to return home has been a positive, due in part to her family and her patients.
“My family is a big plus. All my family lives here,” she explained. “I also have this unique advantage of knowing the community I serve.”
One unique advantage of working where she grew up is that she is able to care for people related to her or people she has known for a long time.
Along with being a doctor, mother and wife, Muzquiz also makes time to serve as the first vice-president on the Montana Academy of Family Physicians board of directors. She also sits on the admissions committee for the Montana WWAMI program.
Jay Erickson, Montana WWAMI Clinical Coordinator, said the admissions committee receives 100 applicants a year.
“It’s a very important and time consuming job,” Erickson said. “She’s done a great job.”
Muzquiz helps select new students and mentors them during their first and fourth years of medical school.
“I like interacting with students,” she said. “I’m always interested in making more of an impact.”
She now gets to become that mentor and role model in the medical field that she didn’t have growing up.
“(Muzquiz) been a great part and mentor of the program,” Erickson said. “It’s what I love to see. It’s full circle. She’s best poised to pick that next generation.”
