Increasing Indigenous Representation in Medicine through Academics Engagement and Innovation (IIMAGIN)

American Indians remain significantly underrepresented in medicine and health professions, and IIMAGIN will help us pursue innovative recruitment and retention strategies to address critical health care workforce needs as well as support future students, faculty and providers.

– Bret Benally Thompson, MD

At a Glance

A new initiative called Increasing Indigenous Representation in Medicine through Academics, Engagement and Innovation (IIMAGIN) led by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP) will expand the recruitment of indigenous students into health professions. American Indian/Alaska Native (AI) professionals are underrepresented in medicine and the health professions, and there are gaps along the medical training pathway at two key stages including application to medical school and retention/promotion to faculty. IIMAGIN aims to address the healthcare workforce needs at critical intervention points along the medical training pathway by creating dedicated pre-college and college pathway programs, establishing a pre-faculty development pathway, and developing new AI health and medical curriculum offerings.

The Challenge

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI) professionals are underrepresented in medicine and the health professions, and there is a great need in Wisconsin tribal communities to have medical and health professionals that represent their own communities, cultures and identities. Examination of medical degree application, retention and graduation rates have demonstrated that there has been little change despite the growing efforts to address these disparities. Moreover, there are significant gaps of lower representation of AIs along the medical training pathway at two key stages: application to medical school and retention/promotion to faculty.

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP) was founded in 2012 with the mission to improve the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of Native American health professional students and promote health education, research and community-academic partnerships with Native communities. Since its inception, the program has grown significantly from serving five Native American students and faculty to more than 50 Native American health professions students enrolled across the UW campus and hosting an advisory council of more than 25 Native American health professionals.

Project Goals

IIMAGIN builds on work NACHP is already engaged in and aims to address the healthcare workforce needs at critical intervention points along the pathway through four specific goals:

• Create  dedicated pre-college and college pathway programs through collaborations with the College of Menominee Nation and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University to increase AI student recruitment, participation and engagement, as well as retention along a continuous pathway of program support and engagement.
• Establish an AI pre-faculty development pathway, increase coordination and support of faculty retention, as well as community engagement and research.
• Develop new AI health and medical curriculum offerings.
• Evaluate IIMAGIN’s contributions through a culturally responsive framework regarding AI health professional pathways and medical education with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Wisconsin Center for Education Research.