Student Development

The student development pages are designed to help you in find resources and information important to becoming a health professional. Please let us know what you find helpful and what we can add to make the site more beneficial.

Description:

Building upon cultural strengths of Native American communities, the UNM Center for Native American Health has partnered with the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board in attaining a four year Indian Health Service / National Institutes of Health collaboration grant called NARCH (Native American Research Centers for Health). The grant was funded in September of 2005. NARCH has a Student Development program to build a cadre of American Indian research scientists. This Student Development initiative is a community driven effort aimed at addressing cultural issues in education as well as improving on how the University recruits Native American students into health careers.

Community-based Strategies

The Student Development team at CNAH works with community-base Advisory Committees and Focus Groups to learn about barriers that prevent students from becoming health professionals as well as which efforts are effective in supporting students complete college. Community members identify ways of supporting American Indian students more effectively.

Outreach from the University is critical to the success of obtaining community input and student recruitment and retention

University based “Student Navigator”:

  • works with students, teachers and counselors to guide them to & through the resources & bureaucracies of a large University


  • helps students transition into the University as well as to increase exposure to Research and Research Opportunities


  • promotes career development and entry into Graduate Studies


  • promotes Mentoring among the students at the university as well as in the community.