The program is funded through a private donation and administered through the Front-Line Indigenous Partnership Program based at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Global Health and Population.
Friday, December 13th, 2024
Monday, February 28th, 2025
Monday, March 31st, 2025
Monday, June 2nd, 2025
Friday, June 20th, 2025
The Ohiyesa Premedical Program (OPP) conducted in 2022 marked a pivotal moment of program development as a successful pilot grant project supporting American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Tribal community and college students pursuing careers in medicine. This pilot program propelled us toward new horizons and the launch of the Medicine Pathways for Advancing Tribal Healthcare (PATH) program.
According to the American Medical Association, AIANs represent 3% of the U.S. population but only 3,400 or 0.002% of physicians. Unfortunately, similar AIAN workforce disparities are seen in all other healthcare fields. Furthermore, only 9% of medical schools have more than 4 Native medical students, 43% have none, and only 11% of medical schools include Native American health content in their curricula. Native Americans also make up only .001% of medical school faculty nationwide.
The Medicine PATH program aims to increase the numbers of Native students entering medicine to address the significant lack of AIAN physician workforce necessary to provide culturally competent care to AIAN communities. This lack of Indigenous physicians is troubling given the significant AIAN healthcare disparities that currently exist including the AIAN life expectancy in the US that is 5.5 years less than all other races and the higher morbidity and mortality rates for many disease categories including liver disease, diabetes, unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm/suicide, and chronic lower respiratory disease.
Concerted and multimodal efforts are needed to support motivated Native students interested in becoming physicians to better serve their communities. The Medicine PATH program is strategically designed to provide needed student resources and enrichment activities such as exposure to clinical medicine shadowing experiences, mentorship, and professional development skills.
Based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Affiliated hospital. The Medicine PATH program begins with a transformative 3-week experiential summer program based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Participants will:
Following the onsite summer program, participants enter a yearlong engagement with the following:
On successful completion of all elements of the program, participants will receive an official program certificate and a letter of support from the faculty program lead, a distinguished Harvard Medical School faculty member, that delineates the components of the program that can be used in future medical school applications and enrichment programs.
This program can empower 8 Indigenous youth for maximum impact in their respective communities, for the benefit of their health careers, Boston’s medical community, and the health of Indigenous communities everywhere. If successful this pilot program can be expanded for greater impact and outreach.
Experience the excitement of our 2022 Ohiyesa Premedical Program Inaugural Cohort! Witness the journey of our participants as they embarked on the launch of this extraordinary pathway program pilot. Engage in clinical shadowing, community building, and attend a variety of enriching workshops. Imagine yourself in their shoes for the Summer 2024 relaunch. Seize the opportunity and apply today to be a part of this transformative experience!