Healing Through Representation: An Integrative Review of American Indian and Alaska Native Students in Health Professions Education.

This review focuses on the barriers and facilitators affecting American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in health professions education, highlighting systemic challenges and effective interventions. Key barriers include culturally irrelevant Eurocentric curricula, limited AI/AN faculty and mentorship, financial hardships, and experiences of discrimination and cultural isolation, all contributing to high attrition rates. Successful strategies such as culturally responsive mentorship, financial support programs like the Recruitment and Retention of Alaska Natives into Nursing (RRANN) and Caring for Our Own Program (COOP), and integration of Indigenous knowledge into curricula have improved retention and graduation outcomes. The review emphasizes the need for institutional reforms, including long-term structural changes, stronger partnerships with tribal colleges, and accountability measures to advance equity and Indigenous representation in health-care education. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies and AI/AN-centered policy evaluations to support sustainable progress.