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Schools/Programs

University of Arizona

The INMED Program at the University of Arizona is a collaboration between the university and the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. Through partnerships with various academic and student service departments on campus, INMED provides academic, career, cultural and personal support to pre-med/pre-health professions students, as well as to graduate and professional students pursuing advanced degrees in medicine, public health and pharmacy. Yvette Roubideaux, Rosebud Sioux, MD, MPH, is Director of INMED.

Summer programs include the Arizona Minority Medical Education Program and Met-Start. Academic support for pre-med and pre-health students includes tutoring and counseling. Pre-med students can receive help in preparing for the MCAT exam and applying to medical schools. INMED activities include talking circles and health career activities featuring American Indian physicians and health professions. INMED also offers site visits to hospitals, IHS service centers and tribal clinics.

University of Minnesota

The Center of American Indian and Minority Health (CAIMH) was established in 1989 as a Native American Center of Excellence. CAIMH has offices on both the Minneapolis and Duluth medical school campuses. The Indian Health Pathway, which includes programs from elementary school through medical school, is the heart of the Center. CAIMH works with elementary and middle schools to provide enrichment programs. Superstars is a 6-week program for high school students on the UMD campus. There is also a 6-week summer program for undergraduate students. One-on-one academic and personal advising is available to American Indian medical students on the UMD campus. Medical students can also shadow family physicians in American Indian communities. Whenever possible students at all levels are matched with "next step mentors" - students who are a step ahead of them in school. For example, an undergraduate will be mentored by a medical student. Both mentors and mentees benefit by giving and receiving.

Dr. Joy Dorscher, a family physician who is director of CAIMH, realizes that it isn’t possible for all students to follow a straight path to becoming a physician. “Very few people, unless truly blessed, are able to go from one step to another. That’s the most ideal situation, but it doesn’t always work that way. Stuff happens. We try to stay in touch with our students, even if they step out of the process for a while, so when they’re ready to come back, we can help them.”

University of North Dakota

Established in 1973, the INMED Program at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences is a comprehensive educational program assisting Indian students who are preparing for careers in the health professions. As of summer, 2007, 172 American Indian students have completed the INMED program and graduated as medical doctors. (This includes Dr. Pat Rock who is profiled on this website.) More than 198 students in nursing, clinical psychology and other health professions have also completed the program.

Six weeks each summer, more than 100 Indian students live on the University of North Dakota campus and participate in one of three on-campus INMED programs. Junior and senior high bridge students participate in the Summer Institute with its enrichment classes. American Indian students who plan to transfer to UND in a health-related curriculum take part in the Pathway Program. Students who are preparing to take or retake the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) work hard in the Med Prep Program.

During the school year, INMED provides support to the INMED health professions students. After completing two years of medical school at UND, two students each year can complete their undergraduate medical education at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, where INMED has a satellite office.

Eugene DeLorme, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, JD, Director of INMED, thinks that one of the keys to INMED’s success has been the all-Indian board of directors made up of representatives of the 24 reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

University of Washington

The primary goals of the Native American Center of Excellence at the University of Washington include (1) attracting Native American and Alaska Native students into the study and practice of medicine; (2) integrating Native healing traditions into the Western medical education curriculum; (3) and encouraging Native researchers and research into Native health issues. Family physician, Terry Maresca, Mohawk, MD, is director of the program.

Native and non-Native medicine students in the Indian Health Pathway (IHP) take all the required courses in medical school curriculum. In addition they participate in small group discussions, problem-based learning, immersion clinical experiences, and other activities that help prepare them for careers in American Indian health care.

The Medicine Wheel Society is a network of Native and Non-Native students, alumni, faculty and friends who provide mutual support and promote Native culture, education, and advances in Native healthcare. Among other activities, the Society conducts mini-health fairs aimed at inspiring American Indian and Alaska Native youth to pursue careers in the health professions.