UC Davis and Cal Poly Humboldt launch program to attract Native Americans into medical school

The UC Davis School of Medicine and Cal Poly Humboldt have created the state’s first post-graduate education program to help prepare Native American students for medical school at UC Davis.

The Huwighurruk Health Postbaccalaureate Program seeks to enroll pre-med students passionate about providing health care to American Indian and Alaska Native communities in rural and urban areas.

Huwighurruk is pronounced hee-way-gou-duck. In the Wiyot language, huwighurruk means plants, grass, leaves and medicine.

Beginning this fall, Huwighurruk scholars will be immersed in a culturally focused curriculum meshed with science courses at Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus in Arcata. The program will provide eligible students with a stipend for tuition and expenses such as preparation for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and mentorship with local Native physicians.

The hope is that once students graduate from the UC Davis School of Medicine, they’ll become doctors for Native American communities in rural and urban areas that are often medically underserved due to a lack of primary care physicians. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, about 50% of Native American students who apply to a medical school are not admitted. Of that, 43% never apply again. Fewer than 1% of doctors in the United States are Native American.

The Huwighurruk program is the first post-graduate program in the state aimed at helping Native American students in California get into medical school while keeping a focus on Tribal traditions and values through mentorships and connections.

“In Native culture, one of the most important things is community and connection, especially feeling that connection with your family and tribe,” said Antoinette Martinez, co-director of the Tribal Health PRIME pathway at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “With Indigenous peoples, we talk about the Earth, the plants, and the medicine and ceremony. It’s that connection with Native culture and the sense of community itself that students can relate to through the Huwighurruk curriculum,” added Martinez, a family medicine physician at United Indian Health Services in Humboldt County.

We were thoughtful about choosing the right place for this program, where we knew students would be supported, where students would be able to engage with local tribes and community members and where we would be able to come in and help support them as best we can in the building of the program.” —Charlene Green

Conditional acceptance into medical school

Students who complete the yearlong program with a 3.7 GPA or higher, score 499 or better on the MCAT and complete all the prerequisite courses for the UC Davis School of Medicine will receive conditional acceptance into the school. They will also receive tuition assistance.

“It’s tough to get into medical school. This program aims to break down the barriers associated with applying to medical school,” Martinez said. “It's disheartening to know that 43% of Native students never apply again, so we want to connect with those aspiring medical students to successfully recruit, retain and train them to accomplish their goals.”

The Huwighurruk program will be co-directed by Martinez and Cutcha Risling Baldy, former chair of the Native American Studies department at Cal Poly Humboldt. Biology Professor Amy Sprowles will assist with the program’s science courses. The Indian Teacher and Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP) will be the designated hub for the Huwighurruk program.

Applicants must be citizens or descendants of a federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native Tribe or California Indian Roll of 1971. They must be residents of California and demonstrate a history of commitment to practice in the American Indian/Alaska Native community.

Huwighurruk is supported by a grant from the Northwest Native American Center for Excellence and funding from the UC Davis School of Medicine. In establishing the new program, UC Davis drew on its experience with a similar post-baccalaureate program called Wy’east Medicine. Wy’east is a partnership between Washington State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and UC Davis.

“We were thoughtful about choosing the right place for this program, where we knew students would be supported, where students would be able to engage with local tribes and community members, and where we would be able to come in and help support them as best we can in the building of the program. So, we elected to do our program at Cal Poly Humboldt because of all the existing student resources and support,” said Charlene Green, assistant dean of admissions, outreach and diversity at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “For us, it felt like the right decision.”

Martinez, an alumna of Humboldt, attests to the excellent student resources and mentorship she received as a student there.

“I credit Humboldt and ITEPP for supporting me through the process of completing my science coursework and believing that medical school admission was attainable. Without them, I might have given up,” Martinez said. “The connection to the ITEPP community and coursework on Native American issues helped me get through the pre-med coursework. The community and cultural integration at Humboldt are huge pluses for Huwighurruk students going through this process.”

UC Davis has offered a successful post-baccalaureate premed program for years to assist college graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds be more competitive applicants for medical school.

The Huwighurruk Postbacc Program team will host a virtual informational session for interested applicants on Monday, April 22, from 5-6 p.m. For more information about the Huwighurruk program, contact tribalhealth@ucdavis.edu.