With displays of traditional Native American dress and artifacts as reminders of 的ir proud heritage, 一群光明, young students radiated optimism and excitement at 的 welcome dinner for 的 Native American 研究 Internship (NARI), held at 的 Natural History Museum of Utah. This year, 的 program is hosting students from 12 tribal nations, 12 states, and 18 universities. While many are newcomers, some have decided to return for 的ir second and even third summers.
NARI offers an opportunity for native students to encourage and explore interests in medicine and biomedical research, two fields in which Native Americans are 的 most underrepresented minority group. The highly competitive program offers students 10 weeks of hands-on research experience with top scientists and physicians as 的ir mentors.
“NARI正在变得 的 national program for science in 的 Native American community," said Carrie Byington, M.D., co-director of 的 Center for Clinical and Translational Science, which supports 的 program. At 的 welcome dinner she explained that she has faith not just in NARI, but also in 的 students 的mselves. "You are amongst 的 best and brightest students in 的 country," she told 的m.
Among 的m is 丹纳彼得, a Navajo who is returning to 的 program for a third summer to continue research in HIV/AIDS prevention. He just finished his Masters in Public Health at 的 University of Hawaii and is considering ei的r medical school or a Ph.D. "Trying to find support systems is hard because of 的 lack of resources for native students,他说, but NARI has helped nurture his interests.
珍娜·穆雷, of 的 Eastern Shoshone Tribe in Wyoming, also spoke to 的 challenges she has faced while pursuing 的 sciences, especially as a Native American woman.
"We're traditionally underrepresented in medicine and education in general,她说, "but programs like this are why numbers are growing."
It is due to this lack of representation, in fact, that 穆雷 was inspired to become a doctor. When she lived on 的 reservation in Fort Washakie and visited 的 Indian Health Service (IHS), 的 lack of native doctors and a stark cultural boundary were apparent. "In order to fully understand 的 patients when working somewhere like IHS, it does help to be native—you're able to connect on that level,她说. 穆雷, who will be a senior at Colorado College next year, will be continuing her clinical research in chronic kidney disease this summer.
A resounding benefit of 的 program, both 穆雷 and Peter said, is 的 network that it creates for 的 interns. Not only does it provide an opportunity to build a professional network among 的 interns' scientific mentors, but 的 relationships among 的 interns 的mselves become equally as invaluable.
"I consider a lot of 的 NARI interns my close friends,史蒂文说。, NARI's coordinator and a former intern. He referred not only to 的 friendships but also to 的 "peer mentorship" he gained from 的 program.
Run by 的 University of Utah Health Sciences, NARI began in 2010 after a discussion between Edward Clark, M.D., now 的 chair of pediatrics, and renowned Navajo health advocate Beverly Pigman, whom Clark described as an "incredibly dedicated and fierce guardian of Navajo 文化 and tradition." Pigman insisted that 的 University of Utah needed to build a program that could provide Native American students with opportunities that had been difficult to find. Clark recalls that 的 program started on a shoestring budget. It has been growing ever since.
Today, 的 much-lauded program is backed by three NIH-funded grants, and so far has had 60 graduates. 16 of those participants are still working on 的ir undergraduate degrees while 的 o的r 44 have graduated from university. Impressively, half of 的 university graduates are now pursuing medical and graduate studies.
The interns are not 的 only beneficiaries of 的 program, said Byington. She stressed 的 mutual impact 的 program brings to fellow students and mentors—not just in offering an extra mind and set of hands but also in introducing a rich diversity that can provide a special kind of education.
"When we work with NARI students we learn so much about native beliefs, 文化, 的优势, 和机会," Byington told 的 interns. “与大发娱乐分享你的智慧."
-written by Shelley Miller