APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi » 2008 Fall, Volume 3, No. 2 » The Journey

The Journey

Lori Arviso Alvord, MD, Associate Dean for Student and Multicultural Affairs and Assistant Professor of Surgery and Psychiatry Dartmouth Medical School

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Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the APSA newsletter. I was asked to consider the challenges women and minorities face in medicine, particularly if they choose a career of a physician scientist, or a combination of both. My name is Lori Arviso Alvord. I was raised in a tiny town on the eastern edge of the Navajo reservation, and my father’s family is Navajo. Where I grew up, many Native children entered school speaking only Navajo, and came from families who still lived traditional lifestyles. Many families lived in homes without electricity or running water. It was rare for children to go on to college. My parent’s backgrounds were modest; neither had a professional degree. As I started in higher education, I faced three drawbacks: I was a woman, a very under-represented minority, and from the lower-middle class. Fortunately, when I entered Dartmouth College as a freshman, I did not perceive these identities as obstacles.