UIC medical student to return to Wisconsin tribe to be a doctor
, 2022-12-19 05:08:13,
CHICAGO – Erica Bhatti isn’t quite sure why she lacks medical services Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Reserve in northern Wisconsin and the rest of Indian Territory, but aims to do something about it.
“I know there are a lot of health disparities among Native communities,” he said. “It is visibly different from other areas. Colonization has something to do with disparities.”
Bhatti, 22, a citizen of the LDF Ojibwe nation, graduated this month from the University of Illinois Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and is immediately pursuing a medical degree, as well as a master’s degree in public health. During the graduation ceremony, she wore a traditional Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) stole.
Bhatti plans to return to the Lac du Flambeau Reserve to work at her residence in three years and eventually hopes to work as a full-time doctor for the tribe.
“When I was a child, I didn’t know any other native doctor,” she said. “My dream is to come back and work as a doctor.”
American Indians and Alaska Natives make up about 1.7% of the US population, according to the Census Bureau. But there are only about 3,400 indigenous doctors, about 0.4% of the workforce, according to the American Medical Association.
Dr. Donald Warne, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, told the AMA that recruiting American Indians into medical school remains difficult as students face challenges of poverty, substandard housing, substance abuse and high rates of. ..
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