My Struggles with Becoming a Din é Pediatrician

Shí eí yah Lacy Manuelito yinishee. Tótsohnii nishli. Tohono O’odham bashichiin. Táchii’nii da shicheii. Oglala da shinali. If you’re unfamiliar with the Diné (Navajo) language, I said: “My name is Lacy Manuelito. I am of the Diné (Navajo) Nation. My clans are Big Water and Red Running into the Water clan with heritage in the Tohono O’odham and Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation.” I am currently in my third year of medical school at the University of Arizona, planning on going into general pediatrics. My goal is to return to my hometown of Fort Defiance, Arizona after residency. Fort Defiance is a tight-knit, rural town on the Navajo Nation with a beautiful, but understaffed hospital that serves a large population of Navajo people. I’ve always known I wanted to become a doctor, but being a first-generation college student, I didn’t know how to accomplish this, or have any mentors to help me. Ideally, I would have liked to find a Diné doctor from my hometown to answer all of my questions as a pre-med student, but that’s not how my journey worked out. While the number of American Indian physicians within our hospital has dramatically increased over the years, there weren’t any when I was in high school. Lacking guidance, I left for college and graduated without completing all of my prerequisites for medical school. When I finally returned to college years later, I was still unsure of where to find a mentor. I wasn’t aware of the Association of American Indi...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Trainee Perspective diversity medical education medical students mentoring professional identity formation Source Type: blogs