TULSA, Okla. — A  $3.5 million grant recently awarded to OSU Center for Health Sciences will fund new programs and bolster existing ones aimed at recruiting and preparing Native American undergraduate students to enter medical school.

“Less than 0.2 percent of physicians are Native American in the U.S., even less in STEM careers. If students can see someone like themselves in medicine, and a pathway for themselves, they can create a vision for themselves in the future,” said Kent Smith, Ph.D., associate dean of the Office of American Indians in Medicine and Sciences at OSU-CHS in a press release.

The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Centers for Excellence awarded the grant to develop a Native American Primary Care Center for Excellence. The renewable grant, which will be distributed over five years, is being administered by Smith and Denna Wheeler, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation at the OSU Center for Rural Health.

The HRSA grant also provides scholarships and resources for Native medical students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty.

“Ultimately, we want to increase the number of competitive Native American applicants by providing training and resources to those students applying to admissions at the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine,” Smith said.

The grant will also supply funding for the development of a pipeline from undergraduate college to medical school for Native American students called Native Pathways, which utilize new and existing programs like hands-on recruitment events that travel to tribal communities and preadmission workshops specifically for American Indian students.

Smith said building and developing partnerships with Oklahoma’s tribal governments and their health systems is vital to the success of American Indian students in medical school as those tribes provide residency, rotation and externship opportunities for students.

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