Supporting the planning grant and funding of the Pathways into Health: Health Professions Education for American Indians and Alaska Natives Program

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1969 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of American Indians, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and

WHEREAS, the Indian Health Service, the University of Arizona and the Northern Arizona University in the southwest, as well as interested universities in Alaska, the Northern Great Plains and Tribes and Tribal Healthcare Organizations are planning and developing a national health professions education program for American Indians and Alaska Natives utilizing Tribal and IHS sites connected by a TeleHealth Education Network to academic centers and each other; and

WHEREAS, the Health Professions for American Indians and Alaska Natives will address the national shortage of Native American healthcare professionals as they are significantly underrepresented within the process of healthcare and allied health professions education, and related faculty. Currently, there is no comprehensive interdisciplinary health care training programs specifically designed for American Indians, Alaska Natives or Indian Health, thus there is a high drop out rate among these students enrolled in health training programs; and

WHEREAS, the Universities are wishing to partner to create a national model that has already been successful, the Native American Cardiology Program that is now operating in the southwest; and that IHS has a history of a medical team-approach model that could be utilized for pharmacists, nurses or physicians to teach in Indian Health sites as faculty, provide internships for students, and employment outcome; and that Tribal Healthcare Organizations could provide a pipeline for American Indian/Alaska Native student recruitment; and

WHEREAS, to meet the demonstrated need for American Indians and Alaska Natives trained in health professions, the planning team is requesting for the National Congress of American Indians support the application development of federal funding to initiate the establishment of the Pathways into Health: Health Professions Education for American Indians and Alaska Natives Program that is interdisciplinary with national educational collaborations by TeleHealth Education Network and the implementation of an interdisciplinary educational process.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education Association supports the development and federal funding for the planning, development and implementation of the Pathways into Health: Health Professions Education for American Indians and Alaska Natives

Submitted by Priscilla Sanderson, Northern Arizona University

CERTIFICATION

I do hereby certify that the forgoing resolution was duly considered and passed by the NIEA Board of Directors at its October 28-31, 2004 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona at which a quorum was present.