Laura Shellman, Nurse Practitioner, will join the Sweet Medical Center the end of May. Shellman completed her graduate work in 2012 and has worked at a clinic in Glendive for the past three years. She and her husband, Jacob, will be relocating to the area from Glendive. The couple has two children and are foster parents to another. Shellman is a native of the Los Angeles area but after college found rural living more to her liking.

Shellman said, "I always loved science and also helping people, nursing was the perfect melding of those things." She earned a nursing degree from California State University (Los Angeles) in 2005. Her husband, preparing for a career in international rural development, participated in some internships in Africa and Laura went with him. "Between internships," she added, "I worked as a labor and delivery nurse in California, Oregon and Utah."

The couple adopted their daughter in 2009 and, with a waning economy and diminished job prospects for her husband, Shellman said, "Jacob became a stay-at-home parent and I started graduate school." She graduated from Brigham Young University in 2012 as a Nurse Practitioner and began looking for positions in rural locations. After fellowships in North Dakota, she took a temporary position in Glendive, then stayed on there for three years. She said, "In both Glendive and North Dakota I did family practice work, very much like what I will be doing at Sweet Medical Center."

While in Glendive the couple became foster parents. Shellman wrote, "We have fostered four little boys over the years from the Fort Peck reservation. We have adopted one and are still fostering another." The boys' backgrounds are part of the family's decision to move to this area. Shellman said, "The boys are Native American (Assiniboine) and we wanted to be close to a reservation."

Shellman noted several other factors that drew her to the job at Sweet Medical Center and the family to the Hi-Line. She explained she first heard about the Hi-Line from a classmate who worked in Cut Bank and highly recommended the area for raising a family. She added, "We considered Havre verses Chinook and were drawn to the beautiful and friendly atmosphere of Chinook. We decided to settle in Chinook, we just feel at home here."

The job at the clinic also had its attractions. Shellman wrote, "I really like the medical charting computer program at the Center and I like the four day workweek schedule." She has a special interest in mental health and intends to start an online doctoral program to become dually certified in family practice and psychiatric mental health. She said, "The program will take me over four years to complete but I look forward to adding those skills to what I can offer Chinook and the surrounding areas."

Shellman wrote that she and her husband, Jacob, will celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary in June. She said, "Outside of work our lives are focused on our wonderful and energetic children." Noting she's already received an 'overwhelming welcome,' she added, "We can't wait to get to know the community better. I look forward to using my skills and knowledge to add something positive to the community."

Shellman had one request: "I have a really hard time remembering names so please introduce yourself plenty of times. And I ask you in advance for forgiveness if I can't remember your name." The "Journal" welcomes the Shellman family to our community.