Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 11:51:13 GMT -5
Student plans career in Native American health
By Tracy Ellig, MSU News Service
Montana State University computer science student Sha Brady recently
attended a course on Native American public health at the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. (MSU photo by Jay Thane.)
In the world of computer science students, Sha Brady is both unusual and
unusually successful.
A junior at Montana State University, Brady is 31 years old, while the
average undergraduate is 22. As a woman, she is part of only 8 percent
of the total computer science undergraduate enrollment and as a Native
American, only 6 percent.
She is a mother of three, the first in her family to attend college and
recently attended a prestigious one-week institute course on
interdisciplinary approaches to understanding Native American health at
the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. She attended
on scholarship.
"I really didn't think I'd get it," said Brady. "Health isn't my major.
I just tried for the heck of it."
But Brady's desire to apply computer science to Native American health
statistics, data management and analysis helped her be one of only eight
scholarship winners nationally.
"Sha has an interest in building her public health skills and a
commitment to using those skills to help Native American people," said
Cathie Frazier, director of training and scholarship programs for the
Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. "We specifically target
students who express interest in working with native communities and
using their skills to solve problems in those communities. There is a
need to increase the number of Native Americans with public health skill
and knowledge across the board."
The Johns Hopkins Winter Institute examined blending Native American
healing with Western methods. Students learned to view health issues
from the perspective of Native communities and through the lenses of
epidemiology, anthropology, mental health, political science and
sociology.
What she learned from the seminar surprised her, Brady said.
"The statistics for diabetes, substance abuse, accidents and suicide are
all much higher than the general U.S. population," said Brady, who is
Navajo. "Accidents related to Native Americans not wearing seat belts or
children not being in car seats is also very high."
At the seminar Brady met the first female Navajo surgeon, Lori Arviso
Alvord, who is currently the assistant dean for student and minority
affairs at Dartmouth and author of "The Scalpel and the Silver Bear."
Alvord talked about combining Western and traditional medicines and told
the students about her own experience with pelvic pain during a
pregnancy. Alvord's Western-trained physician was considering inducing
birth because of Alvord's high blood pressure. But Alvord wanted a
traditional, Navajo-style birth. So she sought out a Navajo medicine man
who gave her a traditional blessing. The outcome was a health baby and
healthy mom.
"The pain went away and she had her child (normally)," Brady said. "She
was brought back into harmony with herself and her child. I really
believe that too. I've had three children and never had any problems
because my mom was telling me the same thing (being in harmony) was
important."
Brady and her husband, Cetan Thunder Hawk, have three children: Cetan,
4; daughter Shayai, 3; and Isaiah, 2.
"My husband really supports me in school," Brady said. "He's a
stay-at-home dad and he also really encouraged me to go back to school."
Brady grew up in the small town of Rock Point, on the Navajo reservation
in northeastern Arizona. She is the first in her family of nine children
to attend college. She came within one year of earning a secondary
education degree in Arizona before taking time off to raise a family.
She now hopes to return to the Navajo reservation and work either for
the Indian Health Service or the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the field
of health statistics.
It was a cousin who first introduced her to the potential of computers.
"I liked the challenge of it," Brady said "I like my brains to get a
workout."
She chose MSU because it was the first of three universities to send her
an acceptance letter.
"I like MSU," Brady said. "I'm challenged by my classes and I really
like the EMPower Student Center."
MSU's Engineering Minority Program provides scholarships, tutoring and a
sense of community for women and minorities in engineering. The student
center is located one floor above College of Engineering Dean Robert
Marley's office, himself a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
"Math was a difficult subject for me," Brady said. "But I got a lot of
tutoring help through the EMPower Center, which helped a great deal."
But for Brady, the biggest help has come from her husband, her children
and her family.
"My family keeps me going," Brady said. "My mom and dad have always said
'Go to school, go to school, go to school.' I give a lot of thanks to my
parents."
Contact: Sha Brady, sha.brady@myportal.montana.edu; Sheree Watson,
assistant director of Designing Our Communities, College of Engineering,
MSU, (406) 994-6723 or swatson@coe.montana.edu; Cathie Frazier, director
of training and scholarship programs for Johns Hopkins Center for
American Indian Health, cfrazier@jhsph.edu.
By Tracy Ellig, MSU News Service
Montana State University computer science student Sha Brady recently
attended a course on Native American public health at the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. (MSU photo by Jay Thane.)
In the world of computer science students, Sha Brady is both unusual and
unusually successful.
A junior at Montana State University, Brady is 31 years old, while the
average undergraduate is 22. As a woman, she is part of only 8 percent
of the total computer science undergraduate enrollment and as a Native
American, only 6 percent.
She is a mother of three, the first in her family to attend college and
recently attended a prestigious one-week institute course on
interdisciplinary approaches to understanding Native American health at
the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. She attended
on scholarship.
"I really didn't think I'd get it," said Brady. "Health isn't my major.
I just tried for the heck of it."
But Brady's desire to apply computer science to Native American health
statistics, data management and analysis helped her be one of only eight
scholarship winners nationally.
"Sha has an interest in building her public health skills and a
commitment to using those skills to help Native American people," said
Cathie Frazier, director of training and scholarship programs for the
Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. "We specifically target
students who express interest in working with native communities and
using their skills to solve problems in those communities. There is a
need to increase the number of Native Americans with public health skill
and knowledge across the board."
The Johns Hopkins Winter Institute examined blending Native American
healing with Western methods. Students learned to view health issues
from the perspective of Native communities and through the lenses of
epidemiology, anthropology, mental health, political science and
sociology.
What she learned from the seminar surprised her, Brady said.
"The statistics for diabetes, substance abuse, accidents and suicide are
all much higher than the general U.S. population," said Brady, who is
Navajo. "Accidents related to Native Americans not wearing seat belts or
children not being in car seats is also very high."
At the seminar Brady met the first female Navajo surgeon, Lori Arviso
Alvord, who is currently the assistant dean for student and minority
affairs at Dartmouth and author of "The Scalpel and the Silver Bear."
Alvord talked about combining Western and traditional medicines and told
the students about her own experience with pelvic pain during a
pregnancy. Alvord's Western-trained physician was considering inducing
birth because of Alvord's high blood pressure. But Alvord wanted a
traditional, Navajo-style birth. So she sought out a Navajo medicine man
who gave her a traditional blessing. The outcome was a health baby and
healthy mom.
"The pain went away and she had her child (normally)," Brady said. "She
was brought back into harmony with herself and her child. I really
believe that too. I've had three children and never had any problems
because my mom was telling me the same thing (being in harmony) was
important."
Brady and her husband, Cetan Thunder Hawk, have three children: Cetan,
4; daughter Shayai, 3; and Isaiah, 2.
"My husband really supports me in school," Brady said. "He's a
stay-at-home dad and he also really encouraged me to go back to school."
Brady grew up in the small town of Rock Point, on the Navajo reservation
in northeastern Arizona. She is the first in her family of nine children
to attend college. She came within one year of earning a secondary
education degree in Arizona before taking time off to raise a family.
She now hopes to return to the Navajo reservation and work either for
the Indian Health Service or the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the field
of health statistics.
It was a cousin who first introduced her to the potential of computers.
"I liked the challenge of it," Brady said "I like my brains to get a
workout."
She chose MSU because it was the first of three universities to send her
an acceptance letter.
"I like MSU," Brady said. "I'm challenged by my classes and I really
like the EMPower Student Center."
MSU's Engineering Minority Program provides scholarships, tutoring and a
sense of community for women and minorities in engineering. The student
center is located one floor above College of Engineering Dean Robert
Marley's office, himself a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
"Math was a difficult subject for me," Brady said. "But I got a lot of
tutoring help through the EMPower Center, which helped a great deal."
But for Brady, the biggest help has come from her husband, her children
and her family.
"My family keeps me going," Brady said. "My mom and dad have always said
'Go to school, go to school, go to school.' I give a lot of thanks to my
parents."
Contact: Sha Brady, sha.brady@myportal.montana.edu; Sheree Watson,
assistant director of Designing Our Communities, College of Engineering,
MSU, (406) 994-6723 or swatson@coe.montana.edu; Cathie Frazier, director
of training and scholarship programs for Johns Hopkins Center for
American Indian Health, cfrazier@jhsph.edu.