Indigenous students learn about health care careers

It was August 2021 and Amanda Bahgat had just started medical school at UB. She was sitting in the required “Medicine and Society” course listening to the professor, a physician of Indigenous descent, who was lecturing on childhood trauma and the social-biological determinants of health. Then he asked the class if anyone was of Native American descent.

“Nobody raised their hand,” Bahgat recalls. “I was shocked.”

That inspired her to begin working with another UB student to find a way to change that, culminating in “7th Generation Operation,” an event designed to introduce Indigenous middle and high school students to careers in health care.

The seven generations in the title refer to a Haudenosaunee philosophy based on the idea that people need to remember the seven generations that came before them and to consider the seven generations that are to come.

On July 12, the second annual “7th Generation Operation” took place at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, a collaboration between the school and the Seneca Nation Education Department.

Bahgat describes it as an interprofessional event that seeks to provide Indigenous students with the opportunity to learn about various health care professions. Students tour the Jacobs School, participate in hands-on, health care related workshops and can begin to develop a network and support system within the health profession schools at UB.

“Each year, our goal is to increase the number of participating health professional schools and, most importantly, to increase the number of Indigenous students who participate,” says Bahgat. “We hope that this event will help support Indigenous youth to further explore the health professional fields, find mentors within health care and inspire them to choose a career in these fields.”

Bahgat, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public health from UB, isn’t Native American, but she grew up in Fredonia near the Cattaraugus Reservation. After the class where she discovered none of her classmates were Native American, she did a little research and discovered that, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 37 students in all of the U.S. who matriculated to an MD-granting medical school in the 2022-23 cycle identified solely as American Indian or Alaska Native. Only 225 identified in combination with another race/ethnicity.

“It was disheartening,” she says.

She discussed it with a friend, Frank Wolfe, an undergraduate student at UB. Wolfe, a member of the Seneca Nation, Beaver Clan, served as the 2022-23 UB chapter president of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Together, the two decided they had an opportunity to do something.

“We belong in health care and STEM disciplines, and these disciplines need our diverse and unique perspective on being Native in America,” says Wolfe.

Their first step was to reach out to local Indigenous organizations. They connected with the Seneca Nation Education Department, Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties Inc., Buffalo Nekanehsakt, the UB Department of Indigenous Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, and other individuals to spread the word about 7th Generation Operation.

Nancy Williams, education director for the Allegany territory, Seneca Nation, was among those with whom they connected. She assisted in the planning and attended the event with the students this month.

“There are very few Native Americans who pursue careers in the medical field,” she says, noting that because of that, young people don’t see Native American role models working in health care. 

“Not everyone wants to go to medical school,” Bahgat says, so last year she and Wolfe reached out to the UB School of Dental Medicine and the School of Nursing, which were immediately receptive. This year, they added workshops led by UB faculty, staff and students from the School of Public Health and Health Professions and its occupational therapy program, and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, as well as nursing, dental and medical students and staff. Physical therapists from UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine also participated.

Bahgat and Wolfe also worked with the Jacobs School’s First Generation, Low-income student group, the Office of Medical Admissions and the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement.

Early on the morning of July 12, 17 students from the Seneca Nation visited the Jacobs School. They spent the day participating in hands-on activities that introduced them to dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health and medicine.

With UB support, Bahgat and Wolfe hope to make “7th Generation Operation” an annual event.

“The system in which we live has not been created for Indigenous people to succeed,” says Wolfe. “Indigenous people face discrimination and structural inequity, and many are still trying to recover from historical and intergenerational trauma brought on by genocide and cultural cleansing. Existential displacement impacts a person’s psychological, emotional and physical health, and can also pose social challenges.”

That message resonated with Sourav Sengupta, associate professor of psychiatry and director of Learning Communities in the Jacobs School, who attended the event. “It’s always hard to look at history and it’s challenging, but we have to. This idea of continuing to build connections with youth is so important,” he says, adding that the medical school needs to have Indigenous students.

Wolfe echoes Williams’ point about how critical role models are. “When you don’t know anyone in the field that shares a similar heritage as you, it feels as though it is impossible for you to enter that space,” he says. “There is a lack of mentors and support for Indigenous people trying to navigate the challenges that come with attending college and applying for graduate programs in the health professions.”

“We all need to do our part in educating ourselves on Indigenous history and contemporary issues, while also acknowledging and challenging our own biases,” Bahgat adds.

“By promoting diversity in the health care workforce, we can ensure higher quality of care and better health outcomes for patients.”