Pine Ridge IHS Primary Care Resident Rotation

With the support of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service, the University of South Dakota School of Medicine initiated development of a primary care resident rotation at the Pine Ridge IHS provider site. The rotation was conceived in an effort to help address the problem of recruitment and retention of physicians at Pine Ridge in the long term, while offering a unique educational experience for residents. It is a cooperative effort of four neighboring medical schools in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska. Similar relationships between tribes, the Indian Health Service, and medical schools are encouraged, with the belief that such endeavors will assist in stabilizing professional staffs at provider sites, and lead to improved health care of the Indian people.