Helping more Native Americans become medical professionals to improve healthcare for all
ALIN Foundation is dedicated to providing equitable healthcare for all. Our Indians in Medicine Program, in collaboration with the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, gives tribal members education and financial assistance, and medical training and experience in the field. Many of our students have gone onto be become medical professionals.
Indians In Medicine Program
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Native American Contributions to Healthcare
Native influences frequently go unrecognized. Healthcare innovation ranging from sunscreen to syringes to birth control is no different, owing much of its practices and innovations to ancestral peoples and healers.
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INMED Program
The Indians in Medicine Program (INMED) is a 5-year grant offered to support the enrollment of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) to pursue careers in health care. INMED raises student awareness of health care career possibilities and provides resources such as career counseling and scholarship and financial aid-application assistance.
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Washoe Health Center
ALIN Foundation has facilitates within the Washoe Health Center. A portion of our revenue is donated to the Washoe Tribe and members of all tribal nations are encouraged to participate in the Indians in Medicine Program, providing assistance for future Native American physicians.
Featured Alumni
Tamsen Azure, M.D. is a University of North Dakota medical school and Indians in Medicine alumnus. She practices at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota, where she is a member. Tamsen is also an assistant clinical director and trains health professional students rotating at the hospital to provide culturally competent care.
Jacob Smith, B.S. is a descendant of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla (Walla Walla) who grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon. Jacob was a member of the Indians in Medicine Program, and is now a third-year OHSU medical student who is preparing to apply for dermatology residency programs. “The people who supported me in INMED are still supporting me today, and I know they’ll support me in the future,” Jacob said.
Whitney Fear, RN, BSN, PHN is a Lakota nurse who grew up on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. She is a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and INMED alum. In 2020, Whitney was featured in a documentary, Who Cares: A Nurse’s Fight for Health Equity, SHIFT Talk, which examines the health, social and cultural challenges nurses face in America’s diverse communities. “Nurses can have a positive impact on the health and overall wellness of our patients that impacts lives for generations,” Whitney says in the film.
Jared Delaney, B.S. is a member of the Klamath Tribes who grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Jared became an OHSU medical student last fall after completing the INMED Program.
“Being accepted into program was like winning a golden ticket,” Jared said. “Being from a minority culture can be super alienating at a big institution, and having other Native students and staff here to lean on and learn from has been a huge help.”
Indians in Medicine Advisory Board
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Donald K. Warne, MD
Associate Dean for DEI at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
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Siobhan M. Wescott, MD
Assistant Professor of Public Health at North Dakota State University
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Erik Brodt, MD
Assistant Dean for Native American Health at OHSU School of Medicine