Scores of American Indian youth donned lab coats embroidered with their names and tribal affiliations Saturday before touring Hennepin Healthcare in downtown Minneapolis to learn about careers in medicine.
At least 114 young people from ages 12 to 18 attended the American Indian Youth with Stethoscopes Summit, nearly twice as many as attended the program’s launch in 2023. Some learned how to draw blood using faux arms, while other delivered babies through practice with a model. Most visited with students and professionals in health care, learning about challenges in the field and collecting tips for success.
Organizers said 23 tribes from Minnesota and Wisconsin were represented. Such inclusion is crucial to Dr. Thomas Wyatt, Hennepin Healthcare’s senior medical director and a member of the Shawnee and Quapaw tribes. Wyatt said many of the young people had never seen an American Indian like him in the medical profession. They are not alone.
“There’s between five and six million doctors in the U.S., and 4,000 of them are indigenous,” said Wyatt.
The American Medical Association estimates that fewer than 1% of the physician workforce are American Indians or Alaska Natives.
“Because we’re so underrepresented in this health care space, formalizing mentoring and showing these youth that they could use us as mentors, and talking about the importance of having a mentor, is really important,” Wyatt said. “I think that is what this programming also offers to American Indian youth.”
Aida Strom, Hennepin Healthcare’s health equity community engagement program manager and a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Nation, said such disparities result in worse health outcomes for American Indians.
Strom said Hennepin Healthcare serves the most Indigenous hospital patients in Minnesota, but more work could be done.
