FARGO - Dr. Ngozi Okoro and her husband were looking for places to live in America that reminded them of their native Nigeria. They looked at jobs in Texas and Michigan. They chose North Dakota.

Except for subzero temperatures and a small African population, Okoro, 44, who works for the independent Cancer Center of North Dakota in Grand Forks, says she feels right at home.

"In Africa, you have a strong family system," said Okoro, the mother of a 4-year-old son, William. "I see the same thing here. Be kind, be good, be peaceful, be grateful."

The cancer center says she is the area's first female oncologist.

Her sisters still live in Nigeria. She talks to them regularly on the phone, usually during her hour-long commutes between her home in Fargo and the cancer center in Grand Forks.

"I don't really mind the drive," said Okoro, a rare commuter in a state with no cities of more than 100,000 people. "That's my own time, my own space, for the whole day."

She would like someday to return to Africa to provide medical help in a country with substandard public health care facilities and treatment.

"They are working toward providing safe medications and building modern facilities," Okoro said. "There is room for improvement."

Her husband, Udoh Bioha, is a doctor who specializes in the treatment of obesity. He currently is in Nigeria helping his brothers open a wellness center.

Okoro joined the independent Grand Forks clinic after five years at the Innovis Health system in Fargo. She is one of two doctors at the cancer center, which opened about two years ago.

Okoro said she has wanted to be a doctor ever since she can remember. "Others had all the cooking toys," she said. "I had the stethoscopes."

Dr. Bill Noyes, a Cando native who founded the Grand Forks cancer center, said he was amazed that it took until 2007 for the area to have its first woman oncologist. Many women with cancer prefer a female doctor, although a female doctor isn't just for women, he said.

"Men and women want the same thing - the best care they can find from a doctor they trust," Noyes said.

Okoro comes from an educated family. Her father was a lawyer who was trained at Cambridge. Her mother was a history teacher. All three of her sisters went to law school.

Although she grew up in a metropolitan area, she said her father would regularly take the family to rural areas to give them an appreciation of history and to learn about "the village life."

Okoro received her undergraduate degree in medicine and surgery at the University of Nigeria, and her medical degree from the University of Maiduguri in Nigeria.

She completed her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in medical oncology at Howard University and the District of Columbia General Hospital in Washington before she and her husband, who was practicing medicine in Los Angeles, went hunting for a home base. Somewhat unexpectedly, they found themselves attracted to North Dakota.

"I remember I had a geography teacher (in Nigeria) who one day started talking about the northern plains in America," Okoro said. "I never thought I would end up there."

Okoro and her husband have decided against moving from Fargo to Grand Forks because her son has "adopted" a grandmother in Fargo - his nanny.

"I'm willing to sacrifice the job for that," Okoro said.

"We're extended family now," said Rhonda Kory, whose mother is William's caretaker. "We do a lot of things together and share our kids back and forth. My little girl is 6, and I swear William and her are going to get married."

Okoro said she has no problems living in a state where recent Census figures show that black people make up about 1 percent of the population.

"Maybe if you go to the mall, you will see one or two black people," she said, smiling. "But I haven't found that it affects my life or work. People look at people as decent, regardless of color."