Erik Brodt joined OHSU Family Medicine in January 2016. He was recruited to OHSU Family Medicine to start an American Indian/Alaska Native Heath Professional education program. He brought with him a wealth of experience from his work at the University of Wisconsin Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP).  

As Dr. Brodt describes it, the process of starting the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence (NNACoE), in many ways is a cautionary tale – it’s a great idea that almost didn’t happen at OHSU. It took the right investment at the right time and the right luck to help the team actualize something that people at the time thought truly wasn’t possible.  

What type of research does the center do? 

Within the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence, tied together through our longitudinal work, they do research related to health professions education for American Indians/Alaska Natives, as well as rural Tribal health workforce research.   

What projects are the team working on right now? 

NNACoE’s approach to American Indian/Alaska Native health professional educational research has grown to be very comprehensive. Their work connects with five key moments along the path to becoming a health professional. Through their research, the team has used data and stories to identify the places where there are bottlenecks that get American Indian/Alaska Native students off their path.  

These outward facing and community rooted programs and their leaders include the following: 

• Tribal Health Scholars: Katie Harris Murphy and Isaac Butler lead this paid externship program that supports and inspires AI/AN high school students to envision themselves as healthcare professionals 

• Wy’east Medicine Pathway: This tuition-free post-baccalaureate health education pathway for AI/AN learners who are passionate about becoming physicians. NNACoE is currently developing Wy’east Dentistry and Nursing Pathways. Allison Empey, M.D. is the Wy'east Medicine Director and Cristi Pinela, Ph.D. is the Wy'east Medicine Assistant Director. 

• UME/GME Support: Culturally impactful educational support and community building for AI/AN students attending OHSU’s 5 schools with Katie Martin as the Assistant Director, and Rosa Frutos and Natalee Sparks as the manager and coordinator. 

• Indigenous Faculty Forum: Amanda Bruegl, M.D. and Rosa Frutos lead this work. It centers on a longitudinal learning community for Indigenous faculty at academic medical centers across the country, hosted in partnership with the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.  

These programs could not happen without the 22 staff members that comprise the NNACoE team, setting them up to be one of the largest Native American Center of Excellence staffs in the country.  

What work are you most proud of at this point in your career? 

Dr. Brodt describes two key examples that are what he’s most proud of.  

“I’ve been in this game for a while and have come to understand the way academic medicine works. There’s this idea that the work needs to center on this one leader who exists and without them we will burn or the work will fail. In basic terms, people need and want a savior. At NNACoE, we have established what is coined as a lateral hierarchy that extends throughout our team. Essentially what this means is if I leave tomorrow, the center will still work. I am so proud of the capacity of the center to be sustainable between all our team. We’ve built out a lateral hierarchy that lives out those values and that lateral hierarchy extends beyond NNACoE and how we exist here at OHSU.”  

The powerfulness of this example is in sharp contrast to how Dr. Brodt describes OHSU. “OHSU is made up of vertical integrated silos within OHSU School of Medicine, etc. NNACoE works functionally across the institution, I don’t know if there’s anybody like us at OHSU. NNACoE is the anti-silo and people notice us for that reason. The culture we nurture at OHSU is operating in silos, that can often maintain a scarcity mindset, while our group maintains an abundance mindset and one of lateral hierarchy and lateral leadership.” 

The second example Dr. Brodt describes, “I am also proud of how we are doing things together. Tribal Government and Tribal people have a voice in our center. This is also an example of a very lateral leadership.” 

“Of course, there’s also all of the faculty, students and program successes to think about, but these are ultimately the two biggest successes have been in our leadership style and how we’ve accomplished it.”  

What keeps you here in OHSU Family Medicine? 

I still have work to do. I still feel like I could make a difference. The relationships we’ve built with the Tribal communities here. What we get to experience every single day at the NNACoE Office, 22 staff team members, we’re America Native/Alaska Native founded and led, this is magic. This doesn’t exist anywhere else. These relationships with the Tribe and team members and the region really keeps me here and they haven’t kicked me out yet. 

What do you hope to see happen in this field in the next 5-10 years? 

I see us becoming more fiscally sustainable. I see us shoring up and investing in our programming. We operate on a 7–13-year cycle. The earliest point at which our programming will be fruitful in the next 6 years will blow people’s minds.  

We will invest more in our programs. We will make sure they’re more sustainable from an investment standpoint. We will make sure the iterations are tight so we’re not recreating the wheel and then we will try and build capacity at other places across the country to do this work beyond OHSU.