“I grew up in a little, tiny town in the Navajo Nation. There are a lot of health issues on the reservation that the Navajo population is susceptible to. I had a lot of family members dealing with things like cirrhosis, lung disease and diabetes, and our experiences with the health care system inspired me to pursue medicine. When they were in the hospital, I saw a lot of non-Native health care providers and thought, ‘Why aren’t there any Native doctors?’ I wanted to become that for my community so that I can treat them with modern medicine while instilling aspects of our culture at the same time. I’m really excited about that.

During my undergrad at Northern Arizona University, I was accepted into NARI, the Native American Research Internship. I spent a summer on the U campus in a lab studying health disparities in Utah’s Pacific Islander population. I really resonated with the community—they face similar health issues that my people deal with. That’s where I found out about the U’s physician’s assistant (PA) program. I reached out to a program leader, Darin Ryujin, who is now my mentor, to help with the next steps.

Growing up on the reservation, I never saw Native doctors at my appointments. I guess at the time, I had this conception that only white people could become doctors. That’s really motivated me to become a pediatric physician’s assistant because I want to inspire our youth. At that early age, they’ll see me and think, ‘Hey, I can become anything I want when I grow up too.’ And as a pediatric provider, you’re initiating things at an early age rather than later in life. It’s so important to target the health issues that we’re so susceptible to when we’re older, and you can teach the parents as well.

I won’t lie—the PA program is hard. It’s probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life. There are times that I’m questioning if I can really get through this. But one of my biggest motivations is my younger self. I had big dreams as a kid—I’m trying to obtain those for myself and for my future patients. In less than a year, I’ll be treating patients all on my own. I won’t give up on them.”

—Lee Begay, year 2, Physician Assistant Program, from Shiprock, New Mexico, Navajo Nation