Yvette Roubideaux first encountered the Indian Health Service as a young patient. She did not see faces like hers during often long waits.

"As a teenager, I realized that I had never seen an American Indian physician and felt that by becoming a physician I could do something to help improve health care for American Indian communities," Roubideaux, a former Rapid City resident, wrote in a biography.

She is now Dr. Roubideaux, a Harvard Medical School graduate and faculty member at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

On Tuesday, President Obama said he wants her to run the IHS.

The nomination brought praise from Rosebud Sioux Tribe officials, South Dakota's senior Sen. Tim Johnson and family friend Rose Kern of Piedmont.

"That's exciting. I'm so proud of her. She cares for her people and cares for how horribly things have gone wrong for IHS," Kern said. "I think she will do fantastically. Under her tutelage, I think IHS will flourish."

Roubideaux, 46, is an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She is the daughter of the late Ramon Roubideaux, who was the first Native American attorney in private practice in South Dakota. Her mother, Cecelia, lives in Tucson with her daughter. Her brother, Marcus, of Rapid City could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Dr. Roubideaux is not available for media interviews before her confirmation hearing. The Senate must confirm her nomination for it to take effect. That hearing has not been scheduled.

"That girl certainly has worked hard for it," said Kern, who works at Prairie Edge. "She's one of those people who has known ever since she was a child what she wanted to be - a doctor."

Roubideaux is a researcher on Native American health issues with a special focus on diabetes.

She also has worked as a medical officer and clinic director at IHS facilities on the San Carlos Apache reservation and in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. In 2004, she was named Indian Physician of the Year by the Association of American Indian Physicians.

"Ms. Roubideaux's medical background and firsthand knowledge of the struggle Native American face in places like South Dakota will be invaluable to our tribes," Johnson said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux said Roubideaux did not spend extended periods on the reservation but remains connected to the tribe. He said she was on Obama's transition team and engages well on Native issues.

Bordeaux said he hopes Roubideaux can tackle what he calls funding disparities among IHS service units within the Aberdeen region. "Her being aware of how IHS works will be a great benefit."

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux

Indian Health Service director nominee

Rosebud Sioux Tribe member

1981 Rapid City Stevens graduate

1989 Harvard Medical School

2004 Indian Physician of the Year

Staff writer Mary Garrigan contributed to this report.