Into Medicine

"They really are like a second family for us.

They’ll go out on any kind of limb to help you."

Growing up across the street from the Indian Health Service (IHS) facility in Ft. Belknap, MT where her mom worked as a medical technologist, Amber Tincher knew she wanted to be a doctor by the time she entered elementary school.

“When mom decided to go to medical school, I called her a copycat,” she remembered.

Amber’s mom, Michelle Tincher, M.D. ’95 (Family Medicine Residency ’98) graduated from the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences with her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1995 through the support of the school’s Indians into Medicine (INMED) program.  She went on to residency at the school’s family medicine program in Bismarck.  Following residency, she worked in Ft. Yates, ND for several years before joining Med-center One in Bismarck.

Now, also through the support of the INMED program, Amber will be joining the UND M.D. Class of 2011 in August, making the Tinchers the first generational INMED medical students the program has had. 

INMED is a comprehensive education program assisting American Indian students who are enrolled members of federally recognized tribes prepare for health careers.

“Our purpose is to identify American Indian youth who could be qualified health care professionals,” said Gene DeLorme, J.D. ’89, director of the program.  “We then educate, support, train, recruit and retain them in rural tribal communities.”

Born from necessity

INMED was established in 1973 to meet the need for health professionals to serve reservation populations.  Until that time, the tribal health care facilities run by the Indian Health Service (IHS) were primarily staffed with health care professionals serving their time to the government mandated by the draft.  When the draft was dissolved, so was IHS’s workforce. 

Funded through the years by the federal Indian Healthcare Improvement Act and Health Career Opportunity Program, INMED support services include academic and personal counseling for students, assistance with financial aid applications, and summer enrichment sessions at the junior high through professional school levels.

Georgia Morin, a nursing school graduate, receives a blanket from INMED program director Gene DeLorme, J.D. ‘89 (left) and INMED tribal chairman David Gipp, B.A. ‘69, during a blanket ceremony at UND’s annual Time-Out Wacipi Pow Wow.

INMED is guided by its tribal advisory board, consisting of representative from all 24 tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming.  The American Indian populations on these 24 reservations are among the most medically underserved in the country. The board representatives are appointed by their tribes and have backgrounds in health, education or may be members of tribal government. 

Although INMED is most known for its program to encourage more American Indians to become medical doctors, the seven medical students it has per class make up only a fraction of the more than 100 students the program works with each year.  American Indian students pursuing a variety of health-related careers, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, dietetics, clinical laboratory science, physician assistant studies, clinical psychology, counseling, social work, dentistry and pharmacy, can receive assistance.   

Start ’em early

Another 100 Indian students attend INMED’s annual summer enrichment sessions at the junior high, high school and medical preparatory levels.

“These summer programs provide us with a constant pool of qualified applicants to our medical and health sciences program,” said DeLorme.  “This comprehensive approach distinguishes INMED from most other educational assistance programs.”

INMED’s Summer Institute is a six-week program for 7th- through 12th- grade students and includes daily classes in biology, chemistry, communication and study skills, health with basic first aid, math and physics.  In addition to the coursework, the 90 Summer Institute participants experience life on a college campus, meet successful American Indian health professionals, learn about health careers and participate in educational field trips.

The Pathway program gives tribal community college students who are planning to transfer to UND a taste of health-related curricula.  Taught by university instructors, the courses are designed to prepare participants for advanced courses in the areas of anatomy, physiology, biology and physics.

Another six-week summer session called Med Prep, assists American Indian college upperclassmen and graduates who are preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) or medical school coursework.

Amber, who is Assiniboine Sioux, participated in the Med Prep course while preparing for medical school. 

“The people are so supportive,” she said.  “When you do something as big as medical school, you can use all the support you can get.  They really are like a second family for us.  They’ll go out on any kind of limb to help you.” 

Making an impact

INMED is making an impact. As of May this year, the program has graduated 333 students including 168 medical doctors.

Some INMED students earn their degrees through the help of IHS scholarships which pay for tuition, fees, materials and a stipend.  IHS scholarship recipients are then obligated to return to tribal areas upon graduation.  They serve one year in a tribal community for every year of education they received funding for, for a minimum of two years.

Of medical graduates, 72 percent of INMED students return to practice medicine in tribal areas after

completing residency training.

                           -Amanda Scurry

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