Navajo Students Engage With Public Health Research Through NARCH

Navajo students are contributing to public health efforts in diabetes, COVID-19, domestic violence, and maternal and child health through the Navajo Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) Partnership. “Our goal is to really enhance the educational pathways available to Navajo students from high school to graduate school and beyond,” says Mark Bauer, Ph.D., a co-director of the Navajo NARCH Partnership and professor at Diné College—a tribal college on the Navajo Nation. (Diné means “the people” and is how Navajo people refer to themselves in their native language.) An Introduction to Public Health Emphasizing Navajo Perspectives Mikenzie John. Credit: Courtesy of Mikenzie John. Through the Navajo NARCH Partnership, high school students can participate in a range of opportunities including a 1-week Indigenous Summer Enhancement Program (ISEP), internships, and a dual-enrollment program where they can earn a certificate in public health from Diné College while in high school. Mikenzie John took part in all three of these. Mikenzie says that ISEP, which she participated in during 2019, was a great introduction to the basics of public health and taught her about Navajo leaders in the field. During the program, she heard about the dual-enrollment opportunity and took her first course at Diné College just a few months later. The public health course on nutrition stood out to Mikenzie the most. “The class incorporated both Western and Indi...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist COVID-19 Training Source Type: blogs