A Passion for Healing
Fancy Belcourt is reclaiming medicine for her people—and inspiring others to follow
When Fancy Belcourt drove past a construction site on Shiloh Road in Billings, she had no idea it held her future.
“There was just a frame and piles of dirt,” she says. “And I wondered what it could be.”
That was three years ago. One year later, the steel frame and dirt would morph into Rocky Vista University, Montana’s first medical school. Within another year Fancy would be enrolled there in the school’s Master of Medical Sciences program. And this summer she started her four-year degree to become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
With each step she’s taken, Fancy, now 29, has worked her way closer to a dream she’s held since she was a young girl: to become a physician devoted to improving health care for her fellow Native Americans.
“I grew up seeing so many of my family and friends affected by health disparities on the reservations,” she says. “I wanted to make a change.”
Fancy was the first Native American to graduate from Rocky Vista’s master’s program. She received her degree in full Native regalia and was the first to include a blanket ceremony and honor song. She is one of only two Native students currently enrolled in its medical school. A third just enrolled in the master’s program.
While those factors alone mark her as unusual, the path she has taken can only be described as exceptional.
As the child of a Chippewa-Cree father and a Crow mother, Fancy was given the name “Woman Who Anoints With Oil” from her great-grandmother Marie A. Wilson-Knows. Having roots in two tribes, Fancy and her three siblings moved frequently, from her father’s home on the Rocky Boy Reservation to her mother’s on the Crow Reservation to stays in Billings, in between. Her parents and grandparents provided a network of support that served as her lifeline, one which remains vital today.
Fancy’s path was abruptly altered when she became pregnant in her mid-teens. Though she didn’t finish high school, having a child motivated her to take charge of her life. She earned her GED and, at the young age of 17, enrolled in college at MSU-Northern. From there her life pinballed from school to school as she pursued her education.
“My grandparents told me how important education was and that I needed to keep my eyes on the prize,” she says.
There were gaps along Fancy’s path and two more children. At one point she worked as a certified nursing assistant. She even augmented her income by modeling, which led to acting offers that tempted her. When friends saw her struggle, they suggested she try an easier route. But the single mother remained steadfast in her goal: to honor her elders and pursue her dream of becoming a physician.
“I was always raised to listen to my elders,” she says. “I would do anything to help them.”
Ultimately, she earned her bachelor’s degree from MSU-Northern and later a master’s from Montana State University.
Even with diplomas in hand, she kept coming up against one major roadblock: if she were even accepted into medical school, she’d have to move out of state and leave her family behind.
“My support system is here,” she says. “I really didn’t want to do that.”
For that reason, her drive up Shiloh Road three years ago suddenly brought her goals within reach. The prospect of a medical school “in our own backyard” seemed the answer to her dreams. So, when her application was denied, her disappointment was palpable.
“I really thought that would be the end of my journey,” she says.
But then a member of the admissions committee reached out to her, suggesting she’d be a good fit for the school’s one-year master’s program.
“They made me feel that they truly wanted me to be at the school and to be successful,” she says.
The master’s program was no slack alternative. The students learn side-by-side with their medical school peers. But by keeping her grades up, Fancy earned her way into the school’s full-fledged medical school for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine – a program that held special appeal for her.
Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine — or DOs — take the same classes and exams as their MD counterparts. But the DO approach is more holistic and incorporates manipulation aimed at restoring health for both body and consequently the mind.
“This is where healing stemmed from,” Fancy says. “Native Americans taught these practices to the New World. I want to reintroduce them back into the Native community.”
Fancy believes that osteopathy, by offering non-pharmaceutical alternatives for healing, will provide her with tools that could help address health disparities on the reservation and could even play a role in stemming the opioid crisis.
Jaquelyn Waller, PharmD at RVU, was one of Fancy’s instructors in the master’s program. She was impressed by Fancy’s unique blend of lived experience, academic excellence and cultural insight.
“I have no doubt she will be a transformative force in healthcare for Native populations,” Jaquelyn says.
Cindy Funk, Ph.D., Fancy’s anatomy professor, also saw something special in Fancy. Witnessing her student’s combination of academic excellence and a passion for serving her community, Cindy is confident Fancy will become not only an “outstanding osteopathic physician” but also a powerful advocate for Montana’s tribal communities.
Fancy has already taken on the role of advocate — for the school and for Natives and non-Natives alike. Surprised that so many Montanans are unaware that the state now has its own medical school, she’s determined to spread the word.
“Rocky Vista sets you up for success. They teach professionalism in everything that we do,” she says. “I want other indigenous students to know there are resources. If I’d known this was accessible, it’d have been so much easier, so less stressful.”
As she seeks to raise awareness, she’s taken lead of the school’s first Native American Club and organized an event in May highlighting the tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. She’d like her medical school classmates — nearly 90 percent of whom come from out of state and have little exposure to Native culture — to better understand the traumas and history that shape life on the reservation.
In keeping with that theme, Fancy even enlisted help from her mother, Sylver Belcourt. Together they gathered flags from all eight Montana tribes, now on display just inside Rocky Vista’s entrance. She hopes the colorful banners will serve as reminders of the Native communities, their unique cultures and their need for better health care.
“I am grateful that all the tribes of Montana donated a flag to help aid my daughter in her dream of paving a pathway for future Native American students to go to medical school,” Sylver says.
Likewise, Fancy encourages others from tribal communities to dream big. She plans to turn her enthusiasm into action by mentoring others through Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman non-profit that focusses on education, economic development and ecological health in rural and tribal leaders. When Fancy needed a boost, Hopa Mountain supported her with guidance and stipends for books. Now she’d like to pay back the favor.
Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, executive director at Hopa Mountain, loves to see such reciprocity.
“That’s the beauty of it — that peer-to-peer mentoring,” Bonnie says. “She will be a leader in her community for generations to come.”
This summer, Fancy dove into medical school just weeks before her children — ages 12, nine and seven — started their next school year.
She remains intent on raising them with ties to their Native culture, adding powwows, round dances, feeds and sweats to their activities. She knows she can’t do it without lots of support.
“It really does take a tribe to raise a family,” she says.
Just days before classes began, she received the news that she’d been selected for a full-ride scholarship. Even as doors are opening for her, she’s sometimes overwhelmed by the goals she has taken on.
“At the end of the day, when I’m really tired, my reminders are my kids, my Native communities and the reasons I wanted to do this,” she says. “I use that as motivation and that helps ground me. I pick myself back up and get back into it.”
