ZhaaZhaawaanong Greensky knows all too well how important representation in medicine is.

A descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe and member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Greensky was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after seeing her family members’ health concerns dismissed and minimized.

“Experiencing and hearing the stories of how my relatives and other Indigenous people were treated in health care and watching it, seeing how the quality of their care was lacking, made me mad and frustrated,” says Greensky.

Today there are about 3,400 American Indian and Alaska Native physicians in the United States—less than 1% of the physician workforce, according to the American Medical Association.

That statistic motivates Greensky to keep working toward her goal. She recently completed her second year at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. She says the school’s Center of American Indian and Minority Health (CAIMH) has been an indispensable resource for her in her journey.

“I’m one of three Indigenous students in my class out of 65, so being able to have conversations that validate how I’m feeling and find community with other people is vital,” Greensky says.

Creating community and showing Indigenous people they are capable of careers in medicine are CAIMH’s top priorities, says center director Mary Owen, MD, a member of the Auk Kwaan Tribe of the Tlingit people.

With philanthropic support from Cecilee Faster, Owen and her colleagues opened a second location of CAIMH on the U of M Medical School’s Twin Cities campus last spring, giving more Native medical students—plus Native health professional students, and Native students who are thinking about careers in the health professions—an opportunity to benefit from its resources.

“We need to be able to see ourselves in medicine,” Owen says. “We need our mentorship around us.”