April Message from the CNAH Director

CNAH Director and Assoc.
Professor of Family & Comm.
Medicine, Tassy Parker, PhD, RN

Dear CNAH Friends,
This is an exciting time at CNAH! We are experiencing incredible growth and achievement in service to NM Native communities and the UNM campus. As we continue to build on the strengths of our Center, staff, students, and faculty for the enrichment of community and campus we adhere to the CNAH vision and mission as follows:

Vision:  The Center for Native American Health aims to be New Mexico’s best practice for building a Native health workforce, promoting health equity and supporting the development of healthy tribal communities.

Mission:  The Center for Native American Health at the University of New Mexico builds capacity among students, staff, faculty, and community learners in weaving tribal sovereignty and Native American Core values across the missions of education, research and service for improving and sustaining Native American health and well-being.

With those guiding principles in mind, we now share a sampling of CNAH March highlights:

• We implemented a distance education collaboration with Diné College. In January, 2012, faculty and staff of CNAH and the UNM HSC Center for Telehealth & Cybermedicine Research traveled to Shiprock to meet with colleagues at Diné College to explore the building of a bi-directional educational bridge whereby participants from both institutions are the learners.  Our collective interests are on public health education, integration of the cultural context of health, and increasing awareness of health professions opportunities and support for Diné College students at the UNM Health Sciences Center.  Just two months after that first meeting CNAH delivered lectures on two public health topics (diabetes, culturally-informed evaluation) to approximately 70 students and faculty!  Excerpts from the very positive evaluations by Dine’ College students, staff, and faculty include the following:  “I think the speaker was well-informed about the topic about diabetes and he displayed a visually impressive PowerPoint in the ITV room”, “It was interesting and exciting overall. Thanks for sharing your presentation and study with Diné College”, “…information that I can share with my family”; “presentation was good information.”

Diné College and CNAH are co-sponsoring a telehealth lecture on Monday, April 23, that will originate from Diné College in Tsaile, AZ (details available on the CNAH website). The lecture, by Mr. Johnson Dennison, MEd, Traditional Medicine Man, Diné, is entitled “Native Medicine as a Complement to Western Medicine”, and can be viewed on UNM Central and Health Sciences Center campuses. We are excited to continue relationship-building with Diné College and to co-creating opportunities for future Native American health leaders in Indian Country!

• We increased the scope of the CNAH Newsletter from a student-only orientation to one that includes the broader community and campus interests. We invite our readers to contribute articles.  Our success in connecting Native students with opportunities is exemplified by a recent posting in our newsletter announcing a summer training program offered by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). It attracted immediate and strong attention by our readers and we immediately reported the interest to the NIDA program officer, Dr. Kathy Etz.  Dr. Etz responded in part that “…we received 12 applications from AI/AN students for this program. A first for us!”  Our intention is to replicate that success for other audiences as well!

• We completed a pilot study on integrated care for depression treatment in primary care for off-reservation Native Americans and reported the results back to the participating off-reservation community in Albuquerque. The community-based participatory research study, funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at UNM, forged a strong partnership between the First Nations Community HealthSource (FNCH, a major provider of health services to Native Americans in Albuquerque’s southeast quadrant), leaders of the Rain Cloud (an organization of off-reservation participants dedicated to improving mental and behavioral health), other members of the off-reservation Native American community, and CNAH. As a result of the findings, and the close collaboration and trust-building over several years’ time, FNCH purchased a building, temporarily being referred to as the Native Wellness and Healing Center, for the promotion of health and social empowerment of the off-reservation community. This is a ground-breaking instance of converting the health equity concept, which is focused societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities by equalizing the conditions for health, especially for those who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage or historical injustices, into a tangible outcome and benefit through collaborative research.  It also respects and supports the Native American stakeholder voice in health self-determination.  As the Native Wellness and Healing Center unfolds in name and purpose by the Off-Reservation Native community in collaboration with its partners, we will provide updates in this column.

We look forward to receiving your contributions to our CNAH Newsletter!

~Tassy Parker, PhD, RN (Seneca)
  Director

ITV/Telehealth Lecture on Native Medicine: Post-event Recap

Johnson Dennison, MEd

TSAILE,AZ--Over 50 students from UNM and Diné College participated in a lecture on Native Medicine via Telehealth and Interactive Television on Monday, April 23rd, 2012. The lecture by Mr. Johnson Dennison, a Diné (Navajo) Medicine Man and retired coordinator of the Office of Native Medicine, was streamed live from the Diné College (DC) Tsaile campus to 6 sites that included the UNM HSC and the UNM Main Campus as well as the Tuba City and Shiprock campuses of DC.

The lecture was a part of a recent joint project between CNAH, the UNM HSC Center for Telehealth and Cybermedicine Research, and the Science Division of Diné College and is funded by an Indians into Medicine (INMED) grant from the Indian Health Service (IHS). The goal of the Telehealth/ITV initiative is to develop a virtual bridge through telehealth communications between the faculty, staff, and students of Diné College and the UNM HSC/CNAH for the purpose of expanding access to health-related knowledge and research including Indigenous wisdom, cultural knowledge, and career options in health.

Mr. Dennison shared his experience in integrating Western and Native Medicine at the Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility on the Navajo Nation by recounting personal stories, many of them humorous, of working with non-Native Medical Providers and Navajo patients alike and stated that "in Navajo communities, Western Medicine is the alternative medicine--not the other way around."

The lecture was streamed live from Diné College Tsaile.

The audience at Domenici Center West at the UNM HSC.

 The lecture will be available for online streaming later this month. To download a PDF of Mr. Dennison's PowerPoint slides, please visit the CNAH website - "Media and Downloads" page.

***
For more information about the CNAH INMED Telehealth Project, contact Nathania Tsosie (Native Community Health Planner).

UNM Day at the Round House

CNAH represented on UNM HSC TV!- CNAH is making it big!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23a2bkf3FQk&feature=share

2012 Spring Pre-Admission Workshop

Are you interested is applying to a health-related program? 

The Association of American Indian Physicians and Four Corner's Alliance* will be hosting a Pre-Admission Workshop to provide American Indian undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing the field of health or medicine. 

The application process to medical and health programs can be intense and competitive.  Majority of programs require MCAT, personal statement, letters of recommendation, personal interviews or more, and will vary depending on the program and school.  

The Pre-Admission Workshop will be an intense 3-days, which will give participants the necessary tools and preparation to have strong applications to medical or health programs.  The workshop cover the topics: 

• MCAT preparation
• Developing a personal statement
• Obtaining letters of recommendations
• How to prepare for interviews
• Mock interviews with physicians
• How to fill out AMCAS application
• Networking opportunity with faculty, staff and fellow medical student

The 2012 Spring Pre-Admission Workshop will be held 
March 22-25, 2012 at the 
University of Colorado- School of Medicine in Denver, CO.   

Application Deadline: February 10, 2012

Scholarships are available to cover airfare, hotel and meals.  



Visit the AAIP website for application and more information.

If you are interested in attending or have questions, please contact Mary Hubbell-Ansera at mhubbellansera@salud.unm.edu or at 505-925-9239.  


*Four Corner's Alliance is a partnership of universities in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado with focus on medicine and health. 

Hot Chocolate Social Success!

Thank you to everyone who attended the CNAH Hot Chocolate Social last week-December 13.  CNAH opened the doors to the Dr. Ervin Lewis Native American Student Center to provide information on CNAH and the resources provided to students.  The hot chocolate was delicious, the holiday music was vibrant, the give-a-ways were fun and the people were great!  

The event was a success as we had over 40 people attend and we were very excited to have the students from Native American Community Academy (NACA) stop by.  The main goal for this event was to provide an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to gather and engage.  Our goal was met, as CNAH was very happy to see familiar faces and was excited make new connections.  

The Dr. Ervin Lewis Native American Student Center located in HSSB 104 and is an academic space designated for HSC students.  If you need to gain access to the student center, please contact Mary Hubbell-Ansera.  Also make sure to also visit the CNAH website to become familiar with resources provided to support student success here at UNM HSC.  

Thank you again for attending and we hope to see you at our next event!

Pecos reflects on 100 Years of Federal Policy and our Indigenous Core Values

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--On December 12, 2011, Chief of Staff of the New Mexico Legislature and Cochiti Pueblo native, Regis Pecos reflected on what he describes as "perhaps the most important discussion that Indian people must continue to engage in." His lecture on "100 years of Federal Policy and the Impact to Indigenous Nations and our Core Values" was the second in the Fall lecture series sponsored by the Indians into Medicine (INMED) grant at the UNM HSC Center for Native American Health.

Mr. Regis Pecos was born and raised in Cochiti Pueblo and is a lifetime member of the Traditional Tribal Council since 1978. He has served terms as the Governor of the Pueblo as well as Lt. Governor. In 1996, Mr. Pecos became the first American Indian to be appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees for Princeton University. And in 1999, he received NM's highest honor, as he was named New Mexico's Distinguished Public Servant.

Mr. Pecos received a B.A. in History and Political Science from Princeton University and is currently a Ph. D. candidate at the University of California Berkeley. He is the Director and co-founder of the New Mexico Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School and is devoted to bringing Native people of New Mexico together in forums to discuss issues challenging Indigenous nations.

To view Mr. Pecos' lecture online please visit the following link--the lecture starts at about 12:00 minutes.

For more information about CNAH and our future events, please visit our website.

Message from the CNAH Director

In my new role as Director of the Center for Native American Health I will continue to embrace the principles of Indigenous Planning (IP; Robin, 1995) that rest on a foundation of long-term learning, the empowerment of community voice, and the advocacy of culture and tradition (Jojola, 2000). The 5 IP principles are that:

1. People thrive in community;
2. Ordinary people have all the answers;
3. People have a basic right to determine their own future;
4. Oppression continues to be a force that devastates people; and
5. The people are beautiful, already.

These principles and their foundation form a set of core values and beliefs that, when translated into collaborative health actions, decision making, and policy, can promote positive social determinants of health, eliminate persistent health disparities, and achieve health equity across all Native American communities.

I look forward to 2012 as a year of Native American student achievements; strong, respectful, and productive collaborations with Native American communities and campus partners; the continued professional development and thriving of CNAH staff; and as a time of measurable improvements in the health and prosperity of New Mexico and its citizens.

-Tassy Parker, PhD, RN

CNAH Associate Director is the new President of Blackfeet Community College

We are proud to announce that our Associate Director for Education and Training, Dr. Billie Jo Kipp (Blackfeet) will be the new President of the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana. Congratulations and Best Wishes also to Dr. Kipp!

Dr. Kipp is Blackfeet and has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Montana-Missoula. She is a previous Ford Foundation Minority Fellow and an American Psychology Association Minority Fellow. She has many years of clinical experience working in tribal communities in New Mexico and across the country.

Read an article by Dr. Kipp "Indian Country needs Native psychologists"

CNAH Director and Founder is the new Navajo Nation Surgeon General

We are proud to announce that our founding Director, Dr. Gayle Dine' Chacon, has accepted a position as the Chief Medical Officer and Surgeon General of the Navajo Nation. Dr. Chacon will be taking sabbatical from CNAH and the University of New Mexico to assume her new position.

Dr. Chacon is Navajo originally from Chinle, Arizona. She completed medical school and a residency in Family Medicine at UNM. She is board certified in Family Medicine and has worked on the Navajo and Pueblo reservations. She is an Associate Professor in the UNM Department of Family & Community Medicine.

In Dr. Chacon's absence, CNAH will be led by Dr. Tassy Parker (Seneca).

Read an article from the Navajo Times about Dr. Chacon's new position.