Tribal youth named Tribal Health Scholars

Two Grand Ronde Tribal youth have been named Tribal Health Scholars in a program run by the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence at Oregon Health and Science University.

The program is intended to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native health care providers and employees in related fields. It offers several programs, one of which is the Tribal Health Scholars award, which provides paid externships to high school students enrolled or descended from federally-recognized Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

Tribal Health Scholars is a partnership between Tribal communities, NNACoE and the Northwest Indian Health Board.

This year, Tribal members Ben Moore, who attends Willamina High School, and Tatiana Rodriguez Provost, who attends Cascade High School in Turner, were selected, along with 48 other students, from among roughly 150 applicants, Tribal Health Scholars Coordinator Isaac Butler said. Both are seniors in high school.

Scholars receive a $700 stipend for completing a virtual program and a $600 stipend for completing clinical shadowing.

The virtual program is a 10-week online workshop in which students learn about the different healthcare fields and hear from guest speakers. They also receive a booklet to keep and 10 hours of clinical shadowing at local Tribal health clinics or hospitals. They also receive one-on-one and group mentoring.

Applications for 2027 will open in October.