Siamit

A Novel Academic–Tribal Health Partnership in Northwest Alaska

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21612368
AutoresLucas Trout (0000-0002-5074-6092, Maniilaq Association, autor de correspondencia), Lucas J Trout (L.J. Troutis managing partner, Siamit, Sayaqagvik director, Maniilaq Social Medicine, and lecturer on global health and social medicine, Harvard Medical School, Kotzebue, Alaska; ORCID:.), Ashley Weisman (0009-0007-3869-166X, A. Weismanis emergency medicine faculty, Siamit, and assistant professor of emergency medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, Vermont.), James S Miller (0000-0002-9987-479X, J.S. Milleris internal medicine faculty, Siamit, and a fellow in global medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.), Corina Kramer (C. Krameris social medicine faculty and community director, Della Keats Fellowship in Indigenous Health Equity, Siamit, and lead Qargi facilitator, Maniilaq Social Medicine, Kotzebue, Alaska.), Salmaan Keshavjee (0000-0002-6967-3305, Harvard Medical School), Arthur M Kleinman (A.M. Kleinmanis faculty advisor, Siamit, Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University, professor of medical anthropology in global health and social medicine, and professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.), Suchitra Kulkarni (S. Kulkarniis senior program coordinator, Siamit and Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery, Boston, Massachusetts.), Teressa Baldwin (T. Baldwinis Sayaqagvik youth counselor, Maniilaq Social Medicine, and a Della Keats Fellow in Indigenous Health Equity, Siamit, Kotzebue, Alaska.), Matthew Tobey (0000-0002-9851-6819, Rural Resources), Matthew L Tobey (M.L. Tobeyis rural medicine faculty, Siamit, and rural health leadership fellowship director, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.), Timothy Buffey (T. Buffeyis medical director, Department of Medicine, Maniilaq Health Services, Kotzebue, Alaska.), N Stuart Harris (N.S. Harrisis emergency medicine faculty, Siamit, associate professor of emergency medicine, Harvard Medical School, and chief, Division of Wilderness Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.)
Año2021
Volumen96
Número11
Páginas1560-1563
Fecha de publicación2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAcademic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1040-2446 • E-ISSN: 1938-808X
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/acm.0000000000004239
PMID34261866
OpenAlexW3179636932
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas7

PROBLEM: American Indians and Alaska Natives hold a state-conferred right to health, yet significant health and health care disparities persist. Academic medical centers are resource-rich institutions committed to public service, yet few are engaged in responsive, equitable, and lasting tribal health partnerships to address these challenges. APPROACH: Maniilaq Association, a rural and remote tribal health organization in Northwest Alaska, partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School to address health care needs through physician staffing, training, and quality improvement initiatives. This partnership, called Siamit, falls under tribal governance, focuses on supporting community health leaders, addresses challenges shaped by extreme geographic remoteness, and advances the mission of academic medicine in the context of tribal health priorities. OUTCOMES: Throughout the 2019-2020 academic year, Siamit augmented local physician staffing, mentored health professions trainees, provided continuing medical education courses, implemented quality improvement initiatives, and provided clinical care and operational support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Siamit began with a small budget and limited human resources, demonstrating that relatively small investments in academic-tribal health partnerships can support meaningful and positive outcomes. NEXT STEPS: During the 2020-2021 academic year, the authors plan to expand Siamit's efforts with a broader social medicine curriculum, additional attending staff, more frequent trainee rotations, an increasingly robust mentorship network for Indigenous health professions trainees, and further study of the impact of these efforts. Such partnerships may be replicable in other settings and represent a significant opportunity to advance community health priorities, strengthen tribal health systems, support the next generation of Indigenous health leaders, and carry out the academic medicine mission of teaching, research, and service

Community health · Curriculum · General partnership · Geography · Health care · Health equity · Indigenous · Medical education · Mentorship · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Staffing · Global Health Workforce Issues · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Medicine · Nursing · Health Policy