抖阴黄色app scholarship recipient enters medical school to serve rural Alaskans
抖阴黄色app scholarships and internships supported Alex McLearen on her path to medical school
June 18, 2020 | Adapted from 2019 Annual Report to Shareholders
抖阴黄色app Corporation scholarship recipient Alex McLearen has a very simple story to tell anyone wondering why she’s studying to become a doctor.
Shareholder Alex McLearen entered medical school at the University of North Dakota in fall 2019.聽
鈥淚 get to tell people that my grandmother in Chevak decided when I was six. It was her idea and I ran with it,鈥� Alex says.
Alex thinks her grandmother, the late Jeanette Paniyak, asked her to pursue medicine due to healthcare needs in the 抖阴黄色app Region.
鈥淪he saw a need in our communities for doctors who understand what it means to be Alaskan and have experience in rural Alaska.鈥�
With help from , Alex graduated in 2017 from the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2019, she started medical school at the University of North Dakota, where she is one of seven Native students participating in the university鈥檚 .
Entering medical school required significant stamina and discipline. Alex prepared for her entrance exam while working as a medical clerk at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 let being tired after a workday get in the way. It only gave me more energy to get the studying done.鈥�
Alex also gained crucial career skills by interning three summers with 抖阴黄色app Education and Culture, Inc. She appreciated guidance from 抖阴黄色app Corp. President/CEO Andrew Guy given to interns on Yuuyaraq, the Yup鈥檌k way of being. These internships and her ANTHC job prepared her to thrive in the professional environment of medical school, she says.
She also gives a shout out to her peers. 鈥淓very single program I鈥檝e ever done, I鈥檝e heard about from another Native student.鈥�
鈥淭here are a lot of efforts to list all of the opportunities for Native students, but nobody really knows everything that鈥檚 out there,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭alking to peers is the way I found every opportunity. It鈥檚 an indigenous way.鈥�
After graduating, Alex sees herself doing a residency in internal medicine and getting out to the Region as soon as possible. She is motivated to help improve the quality of care for patients who travel between rural Alaska and Anchorage.
As a future Native physician, she鈥檇 like to find ways to make it easier for families to remain connected to their ill relatives. 鈥淲e do very well at loving each other as Native people, but federal privacy laws make it so hard for our people to take care of each other.鈥�
Her advice for young Shareholders and Descendants thinking about their future is to not get overwhelmed. There are many steps involved in making your dreams come true.
鈥淎lmost every day I鈥檓 in awe that I鈥檓 actually in medical school. There were so many days I thought I should give up and not even try to be a doctor. But even though it was hard, it was exciting the whole way through.鈥�