The Center for Native American Health (CNAH) had the pleasure of hosting lunch on October 14th with Dr. Evan Adams, who is well known for his role as Thomas Builds-A-Fire in the film, Smoke Signals. Dr. Evan Adams is of Tla’amin First Nation and serves as the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Dr. Adams spoke with UNM HSC students about his acting career and passion for helping people in his Native community. He told stories about his time making Smoke Signals and about attending medical school, which he described as “running a marathon every day.” He expressed that health professionals have an allegiance to the people and should support fellow Native Americans who are going into health professions.
Dr. Adams described the Native health community as a circle and “the bigger the circle, the more people there are looking out for everyone”. His insight and experience in the health field is inspiring. CNAH thanks all those who attended and we hope you left with renewed motivation to continue to work hard in school to become health professionals.
Contact CNAH
MSC07 4246 1001 Medical Arts Ave NE Albuquerque, NM 87102