Work

The usual rotations include time in general internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, emergency care, and general outpatient surgery. There is always a preceptor who enjoys teaching students. Clinical sites include the emergency room at the Community hospital, private offices, clinics in the Indian Health Service Hospital, and regional cities of the IHS.

There are also experiences at the Behavior Health Center, which treats adult alcoholics, and at the House of Hope, which serves teens who have a variety of addiction and behavior problems. At those places you will have a chance to see a combination of traditional Navajo healing and Western medicine. Many of the students have participated in healing ceremonies such as sweat tents and talking circles in which chants and drums help the medicine men conduct treatment.

You will also ride with a visiting nurse as she makes rounds on the local Navajo reservation. Here you will see patients who need checkups or medications. The patients' housing conditions range from new trailers to houses to unheated cabins with no water.


Play

Local Attractions:

  1. Within several hours are Canyon De Chelles (a beautiful canyon created by water erosion), Painted Desert, Guanado Trading Post, and Chaco Canyon (site of a civilization who lived there in 1000).
  2. About 4 hours away is Mesa Verde, a monumental cliff dwelling.
  3. To the south is the Zuni reservation where there are many artisans and a beautiful chapel.

Special Events:

  1. August -- Intertribal Indian Ceremonial Dances
  2. December -- Hot air balloon races
  3. Film Festivals