These young doctors spent their entire lives aiming for the stars and have worked tirelessly to fill those seats in the classroom. They have self-selected to be those who want to practice in small communities and on reservations. They have inside them the will and the strength to work within these constraints and overcome the barriers placed in front of them. They are the ones who will care about our homeless, those less fortunate, our unemployed and our veterans.
These will be our doctors.
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.