Pre-Health College Students

The Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP) can be a great resource for you. We meet with pre-health students to talk about their interests and connect them to pre-health pathway programs, conferences, workshops and summer enrichment programs.

Indigenous students who bring academic and cultural knowledge to the health care workforce are needed in the important effort to improve health equity and health care among Native populations. Your decision to pursue a health career can help change the current narrative of underrepresentation and lack of resources, to a story of hope and healing for Native people.

Coaching and Advising

Interested in talking through your options? Reach out to us directly at nachp@hslc.wisc.edu. Other advising resources include:

• UW’s Center for Pre-Health Advising
• Great Lakes Applicant Workshop

Explore and Learn

Organizations and events can help you build your knowledge and explore your options:

• The UW School of Medicine and Public Health Office of Multicultural Affairs for Health Professions Learners (OMA) leads our school’s outreach initiatives to increase the number of historically underrepresented students in medicine. OMA holds a Pre-Health Career Day and invites prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds to spend extra time learning about UW School of Medicine and Public Medicine and interacting with current students, faculty and staff.
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Annual Conference is a unique three-day event focusing on educational, professional and workforce development for Indigenous peoples in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies and careers.
• Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) aims to identify, recruit, mentor and prepare American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) college students into medicine and other health professions through the AAIP College Programs.

Educational Experiences

• Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) offers a variety of education and training programs for high school students. AHEC aims to increase the diversity and distribution of the healthcare workforce and enhance healthcare quality and delivery in rural and medically underserved communities across Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
  • Community Health Internship Program (CHIP)
  • Community Health Immersion (WI Express)
• Rural and Urban Scholars in Community Health (RUSCH) selects and nurtures students who show an interest in practicing medicine in rural and urban underserved areas of the state.
• Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) is a free summer program for students to explore their interests in medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health, and more.
• Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC) Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) offers paid research internships for Native American College students throughout Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, with academic mentoring on issues directly addressing health issues in Native communities.
• MSTP Summer Scholars Program allows undergraduates interested in MD-PhD dual degree training to apply for research programs.
• Health Professions Shadowing Program (HPSP) is a free, two-week professional development program sponsored by UW’s Center for Pre-Health Advising designed to increase diversity in healthcare.