Seattle Indian Health Board fosters the next generation of doctors specializing in culturally attuned care for their patients.
Since 1994, Seattle Indian Health Board has been a satellite of the nationally acclaimed Swedish Family Medicine Residency Program, Cherry Hill, and University of Washington’s Family Medicine Residency Network. These partnerships continue to allow Seattle Indian Health Board’s doctors to pass down decades of knowledge about the practice of medicine and working with a community with unique needs: American Indians and Alaska Natives.
More than half of our graduates go on to work in American Indian health, and 75% continue working in underserved communities with several working in academic centers.
Unique training rooted in culture
The residency program provides a unique opportunity to train in a federally qualified community health center with a team of dedicated family physicians, nursing professionals, traditional healers, and community outreach specialists.
Training at Seattle Indian Health Board is an ideal opportunity for applicants to work in a unique cultural environment and for those considering a career in providing health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives or other underserved populations in either rural or urban settings.
“Seattle Indian Health Board’s residency program celebrates its graduates” — June 29, 2018
Community partnerships
Residents are also encouraged to participate in a wide range of community outreach programs and work with our traditional healing practitioners. They also have a unique opportunity to get involved with research and policy through our data and research division, Urban Indian Health Institute.
We accept two residents each year, using a unique match number. Residents share their training and patients with other family medicine residents from the Swedish Family Medicine Residency Program, Cherry Hill, and are required to spend at least one elective month working at another Indian Health Service (IHS) center of their choosing (urban, rural, or tribal) in their first or second year of training.
For more information about Seattle Indian Health Board’s Residency Program, contact Dr. Kimberly Kardonsky, Family Medicine Residency Director at kimberlyk@sihb.org.