UND offers world's first doctoral program in Indigenous health

CATHY WURZER: Native Americans have a lower life expectancy than other racial and ethnic groups, and a report from earlier this year showed the COVID-19 pandemic made this disparity even worse. At the same time, many tribal nations led the way in terms of the vaccine rollout. That's just one window into why public health experts say it's important to understand Indigenous communities and health systems in order to treat patients effectively.

As the pandemic took hold, the University of North Dakota was working to launch the first Indigenous Health PhD program in the world, and the first graduates finished their degrees this summer. Melanie Nadeau is on the line. She directs that program, and she's here to talk about it. Thank you for joining us.

MELANIE NADEAU: Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: I want to go back to the launch of the program. This started, what, back in 2019. It became a degree in 2020. How did this whole thing come about?

MELANIE NADEAU: Well, a really close colleague and friend of mine, Dr. Donald Warne, we were sitting around one time just really talking about if we were to create a curriculum that could train Indigenous health scholars, what would that look like? And so we just started brainstorming and talking about it, and it was in the think tank for a year or two. And finally, we were given the opportunity to launch it under his leadership.

CATHY WURZER: And, of course, you did this during a global pandemic-- not an easy thing to do.

MELANIE NADEAU: Yes. We were very fortunate. Of course, no one seen the pandemic coming, and we had no idea. Prior to the pandemic, through our conversations we had decided that we would target the working professional. And so our program is online, synchronous. Students come for a one week in person in the summer. But, of course, they couldn't do that during COVID, so we've only been able to do that the last couple of years.

But it's online synchronous in the evenings. And we were targeting the working professional. And the whole idea behind it was that these individuals would be individuals that were working professionals, working with tribal communities, and people that have to work, want to stay close to community, but really would like to pursue their education and to provide a space and an option for that.

And fortunately enough, even though the pandemic happened, we still have been very competitive and have grown significantly throughout the pandemic. And our application pool just continues to grow over time.

CATHY WURZER: And, of course, because it is online, It's available to students all around the world.

MELANIE NADEAU: That is correct. And we have representation from across the lower 48, Alaska, First Nations, Canada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. A recent graduate of the program told her local paper, The Missoulian, that it was nice to talk not only about disparities or explain historical trauma. So students evidently have a wide range-- an opportunity to really explore a number of different topics.

MELANIE NADEAU: Yes, that's correct. And for-- we're a post-master's program, and for prerequisites we require that students take epidemiology and biostatistics within the last past five years, unless they're actively working in that field and using those skills. And so that has resulted in a very interdisciplinary group of not only Indigenous students, but also strong allies.

Because although you don't have to be Indigenous to get in our program, you have to have demonstrated that you have successfully worked with tribal communities. So the majority of our students are Indigenous, but the ones who aren't are very strong allies in the program.

CATHY WURZER: How do you think this is going to fill some of the huge gaps in health disparities that face Indigenous nations?

MELANIE NADEAU: Well, the department has created a curriculum that produces Indigenous and allied scholars who can enter community prepared to implement, address, and develop Indigenous health research, evaluation, systems, programs, and policies that demonstrate two-eyed seeing approaches.

And the way that I like to describe this is that we not only ground the students in the Western methodologies. We also ground the students in the Indigenous methodologies. So you'll hear Native folks talk about how it feels to walk in two worlds just in everyday life-- mainstream America and then Native culture and the worldview philosophy.

Well, what I like to say for our program is that we're really cultivating a space where students can walk-- and the faculty-- can walk in two worlds in academia. So they learn the Western approaches, and they learn the Indigenous approaches. And they learn where they overlap and intertwine and intersect and where they differ, and how to navigate that space using those methodologies.

CATHY WURZER: Thanks for explaining that because I was listening to you, and I've heard you say "using the two-eyed seeing framework." And for folks who might not be familiar-- very interesting, this approach of inquiry and solutions in which you just explained.

People view the world through an Indigenous lens-- kind of one eye, in a sense, perspective, and other eye sees through the Western lens. So that is very interesting. And I'm also thinking you've probably run into some very interesting dissertations that have come out of the program so far.

MELANIE NADEAU: Oh, yes. And it's really fascinating because we not only provide a space where students can do a year traditional style dissertation, and that can take a couple of different forms. So you have your chapter-style dissertation that really is intended for scholars who want to take a deep dive and become more of an expert in a particular area. Then you have scholars who can do three manuscripts-- so three scholarly manuscripts and kind of diverse their thought around that, and look at it from different perspectives or different aspects of what they're studying.

With our program, what's really unique is that we also offer an applied track. And what that is, is that has portfolio items that are more community-friendly, I'll say. And so it might have a policy brief in the portfolio. There might be an evaluation that's in focus-- focused on using Indigenous methodologies, an evaluation plan, a grant.

So they have a lot of different options for that community product. But one of the products-- they have to do three products, and one of the products has to be a manuscript. And what we're finding is that the majority of our students in our program are actually choosing the applied track because they really want to work with community to advance the health and well-being of the people overall. And so--

And what's also interesting is that I don't think they realize it coming out, but it's a lot of work doing three different products at the community level. But they're successfully doing it, and they're doing a lot of great things and working in a lot of different areas.

CATHY WURZER: Say, before you go, if someone's listening and they're interested, how do folks apply?

MELANIE NADEAU: Yeah. So they can look us up on UND-- University of North Dakota-- the Indigenous Health PhD program. Applications are open now. We also have a Facebook page that if anybody is on Facebook, they can look us up-- the Department of Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota.

And we'll be taking applications till our priority deadline, which is the beginning of December. I want to say it's December 5, and then that would be the priority deadline. And then there are a few weeks after that we'll be closing off our final application process.

So yes, if you're interested, let us know. We also will be hosting a Q&A that we record for those who are interested in applying and maybe have some questions before they make a final decision. And so feel free to sign up for that as well.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Doctor, thank you so much for your time. Good luck.

MELANIE NADEAU: Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day.

CATHY WURZER: You, too. Dr. Melanie Nadeau is Director of the Indigenous Health PhD program at the University of North Dakota.