Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Gift Will Fund Program for Future M.D.s
The Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) was recently awarded a $100,000 matching grant by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to assist American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students pursuing a healthcare career.
AAIP’s Careers in Health for Native Students program was created to increase the number of tribal members in the health and wellness workforce. AAIP will establish an educational healthcare pipeline to assist students navigate their education, training and career development.
“Encouraging Native students to pursue careers as physicians, health professionals and biomedical researchers is one of our primary goals and the gift from the Shakopee Tribe will allow us to continue this critical work,” said AAIP Executive Director Margaret Knight.
The tribe’s matching donation will be contributed after AAIP raises the initial $100,000.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Chairman Stanley R. Crooks said, “We hope other tribes and organizations will support this program so that more youth are encouraged to study the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields with the ultimate goal of helping tribal youth become the leaders of tomorrow. Our people feel good when they see American Indian physicians and healthcare workers involved in their communities. We look forward to matching this pledge for $100,000.”
AAIP President Dr. Donna Galbreath echoed Chairman Crooks sentiments on the importance of seeing tribal members in healthcare roles locally.
“Because Native American people suffer from chronic illnesses like diabetes, tuberculosis, pneumonia and influenza at far higher rates than other racial populations, we need to groom our own citizens to be physicians and prevention specialists,” Galbreath said. “Indian people respond better when their healthcare needs are in the hands of Native physicians and other professionals who understand their culture and value both traditional and Western healing methods.”
The American Association of Medical Colleges last year reported the number of AI/AN accepted into medical school has substantially and steadily declined over the past eight years. According to the organization, there were 465 medical school applicants and 202 enrollees in 2004; by 2011 those numbers had declined to 379 and 157 respectively.
As fewer AI/AN physicians have gone into practice over the past decade, Native population, in contrast, has increased by 26.7 % from 2000 to 2010, according to the U.S. Census.
“The cross-section of these two trends – fewer doctors and larger populations – is where we are today and why we must address this troubling disparity in our healthcare systems and increase the number of Native physicians in Indian Country,” Knight said.