We need more Native American doctors and we need more medical students. Your people need you and they already look up to you. You’re breaking barriers and you’re defying stereotypes. I see all the makings of a great physician in you and I will do everything I can to help you. Traditional healers have always spent long times away from their families during their training and their families didn’t fully know what sort of commitment that training meant. It’s no different now. This is a sacred path you are on and sometimes it will feel like you’re alone. I want you to know I will always believe in you and I’m looking forward to the day you become a physician. We need you.
In the Spirit of Medicine features the essays of Dr. Arne Vainio, an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and a family practice doctor on the Fond Du Lac reservation in Cloquet. His essays on life, work, medicine, and spirit are published in News from Indian Country and you can find the link to this story here.
You can find more information about the Association of American Indian Physicians here.
