Medical education Three levels of autonomy and one long-term solution for native American health care

Abstract

Native Americans have twice the poverty rate of the general US population, suffer significant health inequity, and are chronically underrepresented, at only 0.08%, in the US physician workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated key ethical, clinical, and economic complexities in health decision making among Native patients. This article discusses 3 levels of autonomy relevant to health decisions, including taking care of our own by increasing numbers of Native medical students.