Western medicine meets Native know-how

When medical students or health care providers enter a simulation at the Center for Native American Health at Washington State University’s Spokane campus, they’re running through a situation that already happened to a Native American patient who faced real-world health consequences.

In one case, a doctor might see a “patient” with high levels for liver enzymes. That could be indicative of several possible health issues, but if a patient is Native, doctors are more likely to have one specific response based on stereotypes about Native people.