Tegan Carr and Jennie Murillo stand in front of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus on Thursday. They’re two of 12 Native American students in the incoming medical school class of 65 — the largest number of Native students in the school’s history.When Jennie Murillo was in high school, she remembers going to her local Indian Health Service clinic in southeast Idaho for regular checkups and mostly seeing older, white male physicians.
Murillo is among the record number of incoming Native American students who will take part in the school’s White Coat Ceremony on Friday. Twelve of the 65 incoming students are Native American — 18 percent. The doctors-to-be could help address a shortage of American Indian physicians nationwide. “We certainly need better representation than that. This is a crisis," said Dr. Mary Owen, who directs the Center for American Indian Minority Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. She's also a Native physician who graduated from the school in 2000.
Owen said it's important to train more Native American doctors because they're more likely to go back and serve in tribal communities after they graduate. Right now, there's a 50 percent vacancy rate for physicians at the Indian Health Service facilities in Minnesota, she said.
MPRnews Just imagine if this was something Nova Scotia cared to explore, Nova Scotia... nspoli
MPRnews Lord help them to serve natives.
MPRnews How many Muslims, whites, black, etc.
MPRnews That is amazing news!
MPRnews There goes NPR again, judging people by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character. Racists just can't help themselves.
MPRnews 11.7 students. Impressive. How's the math program?
MPRnews Great new group. Congratulations.
MPRnews We call that investing in our community and investing in the future. Northern wi and northern mn have a lot of native americans. Look up cumberland wi, and their school and what the graduation rate is now compared to 10 years ago. Invest.
MPRnews 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
MPRnews 18 out of 65 people are also women so are to believe that only women are attending this school - we MUST have male doctor's
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