North Dakota doctor from Fort Belknap featured in Indian Health Service video series

A medical doctor with north-central Montana roots is the first person who tells their story in an Indian Health Services video series about its employees' service, dedication and discovery.

The I Am IHS campaign "shines a spotlight on individuals from across IHS and their commitment to the IHS mission," a release from IHS said.

"The I Am IHS campaign is about telling our employees' unique stories," IHS Principal Deputy Director Rear Adm. Michael D. Weahkee said in the release. "The campaign will highlight our talented and dedicated workforce who selflessly serve our patients across Indian Country."

The first employee story highlights Amber Tincher, MD, a member of the Assiniboine Tribe of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and an IHS scholarship recipient who works as a family medicine physician at Fort Yates Hospital in North Dakota.

In the video, Tincher talks about her family, growing up on Fort Belknap reservation and spending time at the Fort Belknap hospital.

She said her grandmother, mother and aunt all worked at Fort Belknap Indian Hospital and she spent a lot of time there as a child.

When she was in third grade, her mother was accepted to medical school at the University of North Dakota, Tincher said.

She said moving was hard, especially because she missed her grandmother, but her mother earned her medical degree and began working as a doctor at the Fort Yates hospital, and now she is following in her mother's footsteps.

"Throughout medical school at the University of North Dakota, I knew I wanted to practice family medicine," Tincher said in the video. "Fort Yates is a well-rounded rural hospital where I'm handling every type of ailment and procedure. I see things here I'd never see at a large facility, which makes me the best physician I can be."

IHS has about 2,600 employees living and working in the Great Plains Area, the release said adding that the Great Plains Area provides health services to approximately 120,000 American Indian and Alaska Native people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.

IHS employees serve in hospitals, health centers and health stations in a number of positions such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and engineers.

"I love the area - the community, the culture and the traditions," Tincher said.

People can view Tincher's story online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joJwFSfhM2g&feature=youtu.be .

The multi-part video campaign also includes a recruitment video. which can be found online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOZPd0y6y-s&feature=youtu.be .

The release said IHS is an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for about 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

People can follow the agency via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.