Why did you choose your specific health professional career?
I wanted to be a doctor since I was a small child and I have wanted to improve health care services for Native American people since high school.
What experiences did you have to make sure this profession was right for you?
I volunteered for many years with the Native American Cardiology program before entering medical school. In medical school, I participated in the Commitment to Underserved People (CUP) program and gained lots of experience in pediatrics and women’s health. I strived to do my best on each of my clinical rotations because I was not sure what my field of medicine would be. When I got to my last rotation of the year, family medicine, I fell in love with the field and decided it was what I wanted to do with my life.
Describe any obstacles or barriers to success that you encountered along your health professional career path. How did you overcome them?
I experienced many challenges on the road to becoming a doctor, but I knew all along that this is what I was meant to do and though my road may have been a little longer and bumpier than some, I never stopped moving forward.
What do you do in your current job?
I am a first-year resident in family medicine, so I do a little bit of everything, from internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, surgery, to whatever my senior resident tells me to do.
What advice do you have for American Indian/Alaska Native students who are interested in health careers?
Be true to yourself and your dreams. Realize you have to work very hard and sacrifice, but in the end you will have the best job ever!
What would you like to see for your tribe’s future?
I would like to see more preventable diseases be prevented.
Do you practice traditional medicine? If you do, then how does traditional medicine interact with conventional medicine?
I do practice traditional medicine. I think traditional medicine and conventional medicine can help each other be more effective in helping the whole person be healthy.