Dr. Christie Kirkpatrick Schmutz is a double board-certified Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine physician. She completed her undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at Whitworth University, and then returned to Spokane for medical school at the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle.

Dr. Christie has a special interest in treating obesity and related issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, but enjoys managing the wide variety of conditions that Internal Medicine brings. She believes that both prevention and treatment are important parts of medical care, and uses both lifestyle measures and traditional medicine to help her patients reach their goals. Above all, she loves her patients, hearing about their lives, and forming relationships with them.

Dr. Christie also serves as our Director of Clinical Education, where she leads our weekly Wednesday Provider Education Conference and coordinates clinical rotations for medical, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant students. She loves teaching and learning from her colleagues and medical trainees. 

Outside of medicine, Christie enjoys spending time with her husband and best friend, Christian, being with family, exercising, watching sports (she, like her father Dr. Richard, is an avid Minnesota Vikings fan), and being active in her church community.