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WWAMI teaches first-year students the art of being a doctor. "We are Montana’s medical school,"

It’s a struggle, being a first-year medical student, commuting from Livingston to Montana State University in Bozeman and finding time to study while raising two little girls.

Elisha Boussengui, 25, can’t imagine doing anything else.

"It’s a challenge, but apparently I really like challenges," Boussengui with a wry smile. "I haven’t done anything the easy way."

After graduating from Carroll College, she served with the Peace Corps in Africa.

As a community health volunteer in Gabon, she made prenatal visits, went to remote villages, and started an AIDS club for high school students, teaching in French about condoms and avoiding the disease.

Along the way, she met her husband, Hugues. Now they’re back in Livingston, where her parents, sisters and brother live, forming a crucial support group.

Being a doctor was something Boussengui always knew she wanted to do. When her nephew was born prematurely, it inspired her to want to become a neonatologist. It will mean four years of medical school, and then several years more training in pediatrics.

"I knew this was going to be a long haul," she said, with a note of determination. "There’s nothing else I want to do. This is where my passion lies.

"I just do it. One day at a time."

A creative solution

Boussengui is one of 20 students in WWAMI, the doctor-training program at MSU.

"We are Montana’s medical school," said Linda Hyman, WWAMI director and vice provost for health sciences.

By GAIL SCHONTZLER, Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story:http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/11/21/news/wwami.txt

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