title: Developing capacity for the American Indian health professional workforce: an academic-community partnership in Spirit Lake, North Dakota.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  American Indians/Alaskan Native (AIAN) populations experience significant disparities in health when compared to the average US population who are under-represented in the health care professional workforce. Current research suggests that racial concordance between patients and providers has a positive effect on patient care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We describe a successful academic-community partnership between a tribal college, a local state academic center, an urban public health institution, and an urban academic center all aligned with the goal to increase AIAN health care professional capacity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A tribal college course and youth education program were developed with the intent to expose AIAN youth to the health care professions and encourage entry into health professional career tracks. Evaluation using a pre- and post-survey design is underway to assess the impact of the intervention on participating AIAN attitudes and career intentions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We believe this model is one way of addressing the need for an increased AIAN health care professional career force.
authors.affiliation: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND.
authors.forename: Loretta
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heuer
authors.affiliation: The Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Khushbu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Upadhyay
authors.affiliation: Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Cankdeska Cikana Community College, St Michael, ND.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindquist
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Linda F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Cushman
authors.affiliation: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Electronic address: Jonathan.Ripp@mountsinai.org.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ripp
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000193:education*; D009658:North Dakota; D010317:Partnership Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011634:Public Health; D014481:United States; D016549:United States Indian Health Service / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: American Indian/Alaskan Native; academic-community partnership; capacity building; health care professions; health disparities; tribal college