Ruby Valley Medical Center Welcomes Amy Braaksma, APRN, FNP-C

The Ruby Valley Medical Center welcomes Amy Braaksma, APRN, FNP-BC, to its team of healthcare providers. Amy is a Nurse Practitioner seeing patients in our Twin Bridges clinic Monday through Thursday.

Preferring a smaller work environment and rural healthcare, Amy accepted the Nurse Practitioner position at Ruby Valley Medical Center after three years at the Bozeman Clinic. Although she commutes every day from Churchill, Amy feels she has a better quality of life working in a small, rural clinic. "I love that I'm not pressured to see a specific quantity of patients every day. The objective is to help whoever walks in the door," Amy said. She really enjoys knowing that she can spend as much time with each patient as is needed. "It's worth the two-plus hour daily drive to work in a patient-focused environment." Prior to the Bozeman Clinic, Amy worked at Boulder Medical Clinic for two years.

Amy also enjoys the collaborative team at the Ruby Valley Medical Clinic and working with the nurse practitioner and physician assistant students who are doing education rotations. "The case discussions help keep us current on new healthcare issues," Amy said. Amy has been working at the Twin Bridges clinic since late April.

Amy was born in Bozeman and raised in Churchill. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Montana State University, Bozeman, with a focus on rural healthcare. Amy is certified with the American Nurses Credentialing Center and is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. In addition to having Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certifications, she is certified by the Department of Transportation which means that she can provide DOT physicals for truck drivers.

In addition to family practice, Amy is also interested in women's medicine, wound care and, of course, rural health. Her passion for rural healthcare has taken her overseas to locations far more rural than the Ruby Valley. "In August, I'm traveling to Mongolia to teach community healthcare courses in heart health, wound care, and feminine hygiene in two rural villages," Amy explained. "I love to travel!"

Besides volunteer overseas medical work, Amy's hobbies include trail running, raising her Airedale Terriers, and working on her family's farm in Churchill with her husband and her son. Amy has run two 100 mile races and she participates in the ultra-marathon community with her husband. She also has five pack mules!

If you would like to make an appointment with Amy, please call the Twin Bridges Clinic at (406) 684-5546.