Indigenous Programs at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is a vast ecosystem, inclusive of 11,000 faculty across nearly a dozen basic and social science (or "Quadrangle") departments and some fifteen affiliated hospitals and research institutes. Throughout this system, there are pockets of activity and engagement surrounding Indigenous health concerns. This webpage includes linked descriptions for many of these programs.
You can learn more about each organization by clicking on the program name, as listed below.
Asniya
Asniya is an outreach program for underprivileged Native American (NA) youth that also teaches cross-cultural medicine to PGY 3 & 4 medical student 'interns'. Asniya means to heal in the language of the Dakota Sioux, and its goal is to teach preventive medicine and inspire young people to pursue healthcare careers. Interns undergo orientation before and upon arriving in the community (e.g., Pine Ridge, SD). They deliver dynamic and interactive presentations to junior high and high school students for 2-4 weeks, and they serve as role models and mentors.
Flip Program
The Front Line Indigenous Partnership Program (FLIP) based in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) Department of Emergency Medicine and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative is dedicated to improving American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) health and eliminating existing health disparities through clinical, administrative, and educational partnerships. The FLIP program seeks to support and develop youth healthcare career pathway programs to increase the AIAN healthcare workforce needed to ensure the highest quality of culturally competent care for Indigenous communities. Our goal is to empower AIAN voices and put them at the forefront of healthcare.
Four Directions
The Four Directions Summer Research Program (FDSRP) is a unique summer research opportunity at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) for undergraduate rising sophomores, juniors and seniors with a commitment to the health of Native American communities. Students engage in a basic science research project under the direction of a Harvard Medical School Faculty Mentor. Additional activities include clinical shadowing, career development seminars, weekly Talking Circles, networking events and more.
Home Base
Home Base is a not-for-profit National Center of Excellence dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war for Veterans, Service Members, and their Families all at no cost, regardless of service era or discharge status. Home Base will begin to offer programs to support Veterans and their Families in the areas of wellness and mental health care in Arizona with a focus on the Native American Veterans and their families in 2024. Nearly 500,000 Veterans call Arizona home. It is estimated that 1 in 3 Veterans returns home with an invisible wound.
Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative
The Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative (IELC) is a national Institute that serves as an intellectual home for Indigenous early learning and development Communities of Practice to engage, learn, and access material and intellectual resources to inform their locally designed community-based inquiry, programs, Co-Learning (and evaluation), and strategy for sustaining high-quality early learning opportunities for Native children and families. The Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative Institute relies on Community-Based Inquiry and knowledge generation as a foundational component toward achieving racial equity in Indigenous early learning and care systems.
Indigenous Health Program
The Boston Children's Hospital Global Health Program launched its Indigenous Health Program in 2022, with the goal of improving the health and wellbeing of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children through partnership with the Indian Health Service (IHS), as well as collaborations with Tribal Health and local communities. Currently the IHP works primarily in the Great Plains Area (GPA), where one third of the Indigenous population are children 14 years and younger. Currently the IHP sends pediatrics faculty to two sites in the GPA.
Rural Health Leadership Fellowship
The MGH Rural Medicine Program and Rural Health Leadership Fellowship were founded in 2016 in response to a request from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for physician staffing and physician leadership of the local federally-operated health system. In 2019, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe honored the program by proclaiming “Boston Doctors Day,” a holiday at the annual Rosebud Fair. Today, the program has supported improvements in clinical operations and care quality at the local federal health system, assisted with expansion of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s community health programs.
Outreach Program with Native American Communities
The Outreach Program is focused on partnering with Indian Health Service (IHS) providers with the goal to provide specialty care education and training thereby increasing the range of conditions IHS clinicians can treat on site. We also work with and listen to local tribal representatives, Native American urban community agencies and advocates to contribute to building sustainable and relevant programs, enhance capacity, eliminate barriers to care, and positively impact the health and well-being of these diverse communities. The Outreach Program is dedicated to the memory of Phyllis Jen, MD.
McLean Hospital
In the wake of the initial phase of the pandemic, Navajo Nation was disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and by spring, 2020 had the highest rates of death and infection in the country. In the close-knit Shiprock, New Mexico and Chinle, Arizona communities, the layers of grief and loss were overwhelming to the providers treating patients while simultaneously mourning the losses of staff, children of staff, patients, esteemed elders, and neighbors. These two communities had almost no access to mental health support.
Siamit
Siamit (say • mit, Iñupiaq, to seed or spread) is a partnership between Maniilaq Social Medicine, MGH SPEAR MED, and the Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery. Headquartered in Kotzebue, Alaska, Siamit serves 12 Inupiat tribes across 38,000 square miles of the Alaskan arctic and subarctic. Its mission is to advance an Indigenous health equity agenda by connecting academic medicine and community care. Founded in 2016, Siamit began as a clinical partnership to support physician services in Northwest Alaska.
