Abstract
Native American1 populations are systematically marginalized in the healthcare and public health workforce. One effective approach to reduce health disparities and improve health care delivery among Indigenous populations is to train more Native American health professionals who integrate academic and cultural knowledge to understand and influence health behaviors and perspectives. Diné College partnered with Northern Arizona University to develop the Navajo Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) Partnership, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The high school component of the Navajo NARCH Partnership created the Indigenous Summer Enhancement Program (ISEP), a 1-week summer training program providing exposure to health careers and mentorship in pursuing public health careers for Native American high school students. ISEP utilizes the Diné Educational Philosophy (DEP), a Navajo conceptual framework to serve as the foundation of the program. In 2020–2021, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the DEP model had to be incorporated in the Navajo NARCH high school virtual program activities. ISEP used 2018 and 2019 past program evaluation data to inform the virtual programming. Students' perception of the program was collected using an online Qualtrics evaluation questionnaire. Students stated appreciation for program staff, fellow students, peer mentors and culturally relevant learning experiences in both virtual and in-person environments. Recommendations included: expanding the length of ISEP and continuing the hands-on activities and Public Health Leadership series.
Highlights
Native American (NA) populations are systematically marginalized in the healthcare and public health workforce
Students completed an evaluation questionnaire at baseline and at the conclusion of the program. They responded to the cultural relevance and understandability of the Indigenous Summer Enhancement Program (ISEP) content, interest in college preparation, baseline and post public health knowledge, academic challenges and barriers, their further career
The Navajo Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) Partnership met its goal of increasing exposure to public health professions and encouraging students to continue on their health professions pathway while still in high school
Summary
Native American (NA) populations are systematically marginalized in the healthcare and public health workforce. Native American students have the lowest percentage of college enrollment; 19.6% earn at least a bachelor’s degree when compared to 35.8% of non-Hispanic whites [1]. In 2019, NA high school students were less likely to pursue higher education due to the highest dropout rate at 9.6% compared to Whites at 4.1%, Blacks at 5.6%, and Hispanics with 7.7% [2]. According to the American Council of Education, 70.6% of NA students enrolled in bachelor’s degree seeking programs attend a public 4-year institution, where 6.8% pursued a major in a public health or health sciences field. Are NA students disproportionately underrepresented in higher education, but they are disproportionately underrepresented in the public health and health sciences fields [3]. One effective approach to reduce health disparities and improve health care delivery among Indigenous populations is to train Native American health professionals who understand cultural influences on health behaviors and perspectives [5, 7–9]
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