Native Americans are woefully underrepresented in medicine. According to an American Medical Association report, less than 0.4% of the physician workforce are Native Americans. For Dr. Natasha Bray, that statistic is unacceptable.

Dr. Bray helped spearhead the development of the first medical school on a tribal land through a $40 million partnership between the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma State University. The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, which opened its doors in 2020, will train future physicians in culturally-directed medical care in rural and underserved communities. The first class is composed of 150 students, nearly half of whom are from groups that are underrepresented in medicine (URiM), including 20% Native Americans from a dozen tribes. Dr Bray is the dean of the medical school.

We recently spoke to Dr. Bray about what led her on the health equity path.

What inspired you to focus on health inequities, specifically in rural and tribal communities?

I grew up in Northwest Oklahoma in a medical household with an emphasis on community engagement and a responsibility to serve. My father was a pharmacist and a family medicine physician in private practice who provided cradle to grave care for our rural community. Though I am not sure that I knew what health equity was or the challenges to attain it, I was taught the value of taking care of people who faced often insurmountable challenges in obtaining care, whether that was driven by access (availability or distance), time to get the care, or the ability to pay for that care. We didn’t talk about the concept of health equity as we do today. Throughout my medical career and career as an educator, what has been critically important to me is creating systems that support access to the right care at the right time that aligns with the patient’s medical and spiritual needs.

The opportunity to create educational opportunities for students living in rural and tribal communities so that they can care for their communities is a privilege. How did you come to work with the Cherokee Nation?