Erik Brodt
The
following interview took place in 2006 when Erik
Brodt, Chippewa/Anishinaabe, MD was in his last year
of medical school at the University of Minnesota.
Today Brodt is doing his residency training in family
medicine at the Seattle Indian Health Board.
Family Physician
What
was your path to a career in medicine?
I was raised between Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Cadott,
Wisconsin where my parents work as teachers. My mother's
parents lived near Bagley, Minnesota, which is just on or
just off the White Earth Indian Reservation. That's where I
spent about 5 summers until my grandfather passed away.
Are there any health professionals in your family?
No, I'll be the first. My parents are both teachers, so
they encourage education a lot. They were very supportive.
They made sure that we followed through with our high
school and college education.
My younger sister is an art teacher. She just had a baby.
My older brother is going to teach physical education. My
mother is an art teacher. My dad is a physical education
teacher.
When did you decide to become a physician?
Not right away. I went to college because of football. I
stressed out a bit because a lot of my friends in high
school knew exactly what they wanted to do. It seemed like
a waste for me to go to college when I didn't know what I
wanted to do. But in the ninth grade I took a personality
inventory. Some students learned they could be 30 or 40
different things (professions). My results said that I
could be a pastor or a doctor. Those are the two
professions that fit my personality. I was like, Wow.
High school wasn't very difficult for me. I went to
Chippewa Falls High School in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It
was a big school. I did well in athletics. That's what took
me to college. I went one year to the University of
Wisconsin River Falls. Then I transferred to Bethel College
in Arden Hills, Minnesota.
At Bethel I met someone from my tribe who told me about
the Center of American Indian and
Minority Health at the
University of Minnesota at Duluth [UMD]. She had gone to
the summer program the previous summer and said that it
was a great program. She encouraged me to sign up and
try it. That's what I did.
The summer program is where I met Dr. Joy Dorscher and Dr. Bret
Benally Thompson (White Earth Band of Ojibwe) who has
been a strong mentor for me. At that time he was a
Center student. He's now a resident in the Alaska family
practice program in Anchorage. It was very encouraging
to have someone from my tribe and band who had done the
steps before me. He said, “You can do this. You have
what it takes.” He was real encouraging to me.
Mentors are very important. What do you remember about the
summer program at UMD?
I went there after my junior year. One of the things that
impressed me the most was engaging in friendships with
people who shared my vision of going into medicine and
serving Native people. I hadn't met many other Native
students in college. There were only 6 in my college of
2400 people. I also hadn't met many other Native students
who were interested in medicine and had strong academics. I
was very encouraged to meet people with like interests and
a similar vision.
The summer program was vigorous academically. We studied
the nervous system. Two years later in medical school the
nervous system was taught in almost the identical way. The
summer program helped me out. It gave me a strong
foundation.
We learned the physical exam, especially the nervous system
physical, from 6 or so medical students. Most of them were
Native. I still see these people around the hospital. It's
fun to talk with them. They're curious about where I am and
what has been going on.
Was it helpful to be on campus?
Yes, in that I met a lot of the people that would be
interviewing me later when I applied to medical school. I
also met the staff who would be helping me along. When I
interviewed at Duluth for medical school, I felt like I was
coming home. Susan, the receptionist, didn't greet me with
a handshake, as had been the case with receptionists at
other medical schools. Instead she gave me a hug and was
excited to see me. It was a very warm feeling. The people
at the school are gentle and accommodating.
After my summer in Duluth, I went back to Bethel and
graduated with a degree in philosophy and a degree in
biology. Next I worked at Medtronic for 4 months, doing an
internship there before going to medical school
What kind of internship?
I studied under the direction of a molecular biologist
interested in neurological diseases. It was an amazing
opportunity to be a part of such a fast-paced and
technologically advanced research team. While there, my
primary investigator allowed me to conduct experiments that
were never before performed. I experienced great
satisfaction from such pioneering moments.
What
kind of interaction did you have with the Center during
medical school?
Oh my gosh. I can't express how much support they've given
to me. I refer to Dr. Dorscher with the title doctor in a
very respectful way. But she's become a nurturing person in
my life. She's almost like a mother in a lot of ways. She
listens to us so well and understands our dreams and our
visions and our goals. She understands where we come from
and what's important to us as Native American health
professions students. I can't believe that she's not an
auntie or something because she's so supportive. She
realizes where we want to go. She lets us run with our
dreams.
As far as academic support, the Center staff go out of
their way to do anything that helps us do better. They’re
all wonderful.
What is your dream?
I will end up working in a Native community in a rural
area. I'm not sure where. I see myself coming back to the
Midwest - possibly Northern Minnesota because I have such
strong ties there. I want to work in one of the tribal
clinics, hopefully one where I can have privileges to
deliver babies.
I want to be involved as a community member, not just from
an external delivery of health care. I want to work with
the community on the health of the community. I want the
clinic to be community-based. I want to support nutritional
and life style changes and work for positive social change.
People need to understand that they can do a lot to prevent
type 2 diabetes that ravishes our community. If we could
cut smoking and diabetes by half, the quality of life in
our communities would go up dramatically.
I'm excited about working with a lot of Native health
professionals who are coming in this next wave. There's a
whole network of us (physicians, nurses, administrators,
public health) that are connected in a lot of ways. It's
going to be exciting to work together to help actualize our
dreams.
We need a critical mass. Some of our fortunate clinics have
one or maybe two Native doctors. Most of our facilities
aren't that lucky. Having a critical mass will make it much
more possible to achieve a lot of our goals.
I see a lot of pine trees, a lot of fresh water. Maybe some
wild rice on the lake. That's where I see myself.
Has your background in philosophy helped you?
It has helped me step back and look at arguments,
situations or problems from a wide perspective as opposed
to a cause and effect way. It has broadened my
possibilities when approaching and solving problems. It
fostered careful, rigorous ways of reading and writing.
Sometimes my background can get me into trouble. Some
doctors make generalizations or absolute
claims
about things. I'm tempted to say, “Well is that the way it
really is, sir?”
What experiences have helped shape how you'll
practice?
When I was
doing a clerkship on one of the Northern reservations, I
gently entered an exam room and saw an elder woman. She was
collected into herself. Her arms were crossed. She was
taping her foot. She seemed nervous. This 80-year old woman
didn't look up when I walked into the room. I wondered what
I could do to make her more comfortable.
I thought she probably knew Ojibwe because she's an Elder,
so I introduced myself to her in Objibwe. It was like I was
faith healer or something. She stopped shaking. She looked
up and I saw joy in her eyes. She stood up and hugged me.
In Objibwe, she kept saying, “Welcome to our community, my
friend, my friend.”
News spread through the community that I, a Native Ojibwe
student, was in their clinic. I spent the whole afternoon
going around the community being introduced to tribal
members, including the tribal chairman and the board. I was
introduced to everyone's cousins. I got introduced to
everyone who was outside and visible. I still go to this
community from time to time.
What are you looking for in a residency program?
All the programs that I'm visiting serve underserved people
as part of their mission. The programs all provide
opportunities for working in Native health care. Only one
of the programs I'm looking at is university-based. The
rest are based in the community [not linked to a
university]
In rural health care, you're called upon to deliver babies
and do lots of procedures. Unlike urban practices, you
can't refer patients to specialists all the time. I want a
program that is steeped in the problems rural people face.
I want to learn the skills needed for providing rural
healthcare.
Only one of the programs I am applying to does not have a
Native faculty member. Having a Native faculty member is
very important for me, especially when I may need someone
to bounce some cultural ideas off. When asking about the
climate towards Native people, Native faculty give personal
and honest responses. It helps to know someone else will at
least be sympathetic toward beliefs, which may be different
from the majority culture.
I have a month in which I can hang out at programs. I'll
get to know the areas and see if they feel right to me. I'm
more of an intuitive person, so if a place feels good,
that's probably where I'll end up.
What is your advice to Native people who are considering a
career in medicine?
Seek out mentors as early as possible. Find someone in the
community who can encourage you through the process and
keep you accountable. Realize that medical students used to
be in your position. Don't be intimidated. Speak with them.
We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a lot of people who
have gone before us and helped us out too. I wouldn't be
here if it wasn't for Dr. Dorscher, Dr. Banally-Thompson,
and the support staff of the Center. They called me and
encouraged me. They'd have me come over. A lot of our
mentors are currently Native health professionals.
A lot of the success we're seeing now with this new wave of
Native health professionals is largely a response to all
the work that Dr. Dorscher and others have done. They
should be recognized because they put in so much time to
support us and encourage us. It means so much to have
someone tell you, “I didn't come from a rich family. No one
in my family was a doctor. We had to grow our own food. We
had to hunt deer because we couldn't afford to go to the
grocery story and buy meat.” When you hear other people
from similar circumstances as you, it gives you a lot more
hope that you can do those things too. They've been an
integral part of the process for me and for others.
Any other advice?
Stay in school. Keep going. Remember you don't need to be a
biology or a medical major to get into medical school.
Everybody has a different path. Ultimately you have to take
some required
courses to get into medical school, and by default you
might get a biology major. But if your dream is to follow
literature or philosophy or music performance or American
Indian studies, humanities, do it. Following those dreams
will help you relate to your patients one day. It fosters a
more human side of you and helps you think outside of the
scientific paradigm.
This
article was originally published in the Winter 2006 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist, Roxanne Chinook, is a tribal member of the
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation
in Oregon. "My art emulates a personal and cultural
experience, from the spirit of the trickster to healing
from the traumas of my past." For more conformation,
contact American Indian Art from the Pacific
Northwest.