Dr. Don Warne with Scott Davis

Scott Davis, Executive Director 
ND Indian Affairs Commission

U.S. Surgeon General Nominee Speaks at United Tribes

Posted: Jul 29, 2013 6:12 PM CDTUpdated: Jul 29, 2013 6:46 PM CDT

By Jessica Roose - email

A nominee for United States Surgeon General was in Bismarck this afternoon discussing disparities in the health field. Dr. Don Warne, who is originally from Fargo, says it's important to insure that there is equal access to healthcare to all citizens in the country. He says this will be his focus, whether he remains in his position at NDSU or is selected as Surgeon General.

"Unfortunately in our population we have many segments of the population, fellow Americans who simply don't have access to adequate health services and as a result suffer and die unnecessarily," says Dr. Warne.

He says there have been several other qualified people nominated for the position, and he feels honored to be part of the discussion.

Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board Annual Meeting

Please see the following pictures from the GPTCHB Annual Meeting:

Dr. Warne with Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer

MPH Student, Nicki Cain, doing a very good job.

Currently their website is being updated, but the link is below.
http://www.gpatr.org/construction.html

AAIP Pre-Admissions Students

Please see the below picture from the 42nd Annual Association of American Indian Physicians Meeting and Health Conference in Santa Clara, CA. 

On the Agenda for the meeting: “Promoting Wellness in Native American Communities Through Exercise, Disease Prevention and Traditional Healing”

The Association of American Indian Physicians maintains its headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; however, educational forums, workshops and conferences are hosted throughout the year in different regions of the United States.

AAIP’s membership is made up of American Indian and Alaska Native physicians who are at least 1/8 American Indian or Alaskan Native, and who are licensed to practice medicine in the United States. AAIP also offers an affiliate level membership for American Indian or Alaskan Native physicians who are unable to meet the 1/8 blood quantum requirement.

A major goal of AAIP is to motivate American Indian and Alaskan Native students to remain in the academic pipeline and to pursue a career in the health professions and/or biomedical research, thereby increasing the number of American Indian and Alaskan Native medical professionals in the workforce.

AAIP strives to improve the overall health of American Indian and Alaskan Native Communities through a variety of programs. AAIP has fostered several programs that directly address widely acknowledged disparities in American Indian and Alaskan Native health.

Assistant or Associate Professor - American Indian Public Health

We are very excited to be hiring for a full-time faculty to teach, research, and advise within the American Indian Public Health track at the North Dakota State University Master of Public Health program!

More details for the job can be found here and below:
The Department of Pharmacy Practice, Master of Public Health (MPH) Program, North Dakota State University, is seeking a full-time faculty member for a 12-month position in American Indian Public Health. This position is housed in the MPH Program of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences. The position requires developing a teaching/research program with a focus on American Indian health at the graduate level; In addition, the position requires the development of courses with a focus on American Indian Public Health content, specifically in the area of American Indian Health Policy and Public Health Research, graduate student mentoring, serving on graduate committees, demonstrated understanding of contemporary American Indian populations in relation to relevant health services, and documented skills in organization, administration, and management in regard to academic programs. The position also calls for the development and implementation of on-going relationships with American Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and urban American Indian communities in relation to the American Indian Public Health track.

Applicants are required to submit a letter of interest with a statement of their career goals and a description of how their research background fits into the Master of Public Health Program. Please upload this to “Other Document 1”. A presentation on the topic of Public Health Implications of Health Policy for American Indians will be required at the time of interview. Three professional references are also required.

Screening begins 09/02/2013

Native Sun News: Donald Warne pushed for Surgeon General

By Karin Eagle
Native Sun News Staff Writer

FARGO - Living up to his Lakota name, Pejuta Wicas (Medicine Man), Dr. Donald Warne, MD, MPH, has made the medical field his avenue to improving the lives of the people across Indian Country.

His pay off is a nod from two prominent Native organizations, who have recently pushed his name to the top of a list of nominees for the post of US Surgeon General. Both the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians have endorsed Warne for the post.

Warne is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe with family roots in the Medicine Root District of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Warne received his Medical Degree from Stanford University in 1995 and his Master of Public Health from Harvard University with a focus on health policy in 2002. Warne is currently the Director of the Master of Public Health Program at North Dakota State University, and serves as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board.

Warne specializes in Public Health Policy, Health Disparities, American Indian Health and Family Medicine. His training includes a fellowship in Minority Health Police, 2001, at Harvard Medical School in Boston; and training in Medical Acupuncture for Physicians, 1998 at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles; and a Residency in Family Medicine, 1998, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix.

Awards Warne has received during his career include the Mary J. Berg Distinguished Professorship in Women's Health, NDSU, 2012 and the Josiah N. Moore Native American Alumnus of the Year (2008) Arizona State University Alumni Association.

Boris D. Lushniak, is currently the acting US Surgeon General since July 17, 2013 following the departure of Regina M. Benjamin, who had been appointed by President Barack Obama as the 18th United States Surgeon General in July, 2009 and served a four-year term.

(Contact Karin Eagle at staffwriter@nsweekly.com)
Full article can be read at this location: http://www.indianz.com/News/2013/010591.asp
See print article here: http://www.nsweekly.com/

Will an Oglala Lakota Doctor Become the Next U.S. Surgeon General?

Article by: Tanya Lee  
July 23, 2013

 

Dr. Donald Warne, Oglala Lakota, sees his nomination to serve as U.S. Surgeon General as an opportunity—not for himself personally, but rather to bring American Indian health issues to the forefront of national consciousness. "It is a tremendous honor to be part of the conversation. This is an opportunity to include American Indian health issues in the national discussion, to raise those issues to a national level," says Warne, who was nominated by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians.

Under his leadership, Warne says, one part of that discussion would be about diabetes, a disease on which Warne has done considerable work. "American Indians have a higher incidence of diabetes and a higher rate of complications from the disease, including heart disease and amputations, than does the general population," he says. The reason? Poverty.

"The Indian Health Service is underfunded. Many American Indians don't have access to healthier food, exercise opportunities and wellness programs, nor to the newest and best medications," he explains.

A priority for Warne would be reducing this and other health disparities. "Impoverished people get sick, suffer and die at a much earlier age than others. Many people within this nation do not have access to health care. I see a terrible disparity and would work to achieve health equity, to make sure every population has the opportunity to live in a healthy way."

Warne says the U.S. Surgeon General is the "nation's doctor," with the responsibility of leading the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and identifying the best scientific data to prevent and treat disease. He mentions two instances in which the surgeon general has had a profound impact on the health of the nation. The report of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 led to warning labels on cigarette packages and other anti-smoking measures, which are still being initiated by states almost 50 years after the report came out. Cigarette smoking, says Warne, is a major contributor to the damage diabetes does within the American Indian community. In the second instance, Warne cites Dr. C. Everett Koop's role in changing public attitudes about HIV and AIDS.

Warne, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, comes from a family of medicine men and traditional healers, and, with his mother serving as a public health nurse with the IHS, he became interested in cross-cultural medicine even before going to college. He earned his M.D. from Stanford University and his Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. Warne is currently director of the Master of Public Health Program at North Dakota State University, an adjunct professor at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, and a senior policy consultant American Indian Health & Management Policy, a firm that he founded to advise tribes on health care management, as well as being involved in a raft of medical research initiatives.

At 46, Warne describes himself as on the "younger side of the equation" among the nominees, but, he says, "so is President Obama."

Please return to Indian Country Today Media Network for more coverage of American Indians nominated for U.S. Surgeon General, including Lori Arviso-Alvord, Navajo, and Charles Grim, Cherokee.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/07/23/will-oglala-lakota-doctor-become-next-us-surgeon-general-150545