UND Indians Into Medicine program names Melvin Monette-Barajas as new director
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota’s world-first Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program announced Melvin Monette-Barajas as its new Director this week.
An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa near Belcourt, N.D., Monette-Barajas will lead the historic university-based Indigenous health provider training program after spending more than a decade with the Native Forward Scholars Fund (formerly the American Indian Graduate Center) and the Cobell Scholarship Fund.
“I really want to see this space and the INMED community at UND grow to show the University and North Dakota what Indigenous health providers have done and can do, not just for UND but for healthcare,” said Monette-Barajas of the program housed in UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences. “Native students and Native communities have so much to offer the health professions.”
Established in 1973, INMED is a comprehensive education program assisting American Indian students who are preparing for health careers. INMED services include academic and personal counseling for students, assistance with financial aid applications, and summer enrichment sessions at the junior high and high school levels.
To date, the program has graduated more than 500 Indigenous physicians, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists, medical laboratory scientists, and public health professionals.
Having attended Cankdeska Cikana and Turtle Mountain community colleges in North Dakota, Monette-Barajas later earned a graduate degree in education from UND. His first professional role was working for what is today UND’s Indigenous Student Center. Monette-Barajas will utilize this background, he said, to help INMED maintain its reputation for academic and institutional excellence and expand its support for future generations of Indigenous students as they pursue health professions degrees – particularly those in the health sciences.
“Mentorship comes in all shapes and sizes,” he said. “And INMED has a depth of people who are eager and willing, and calling me regularly, saying, ‘How do I help? Assign me a student and I’ll be their mentor.’ We speak education here, and because we serve more than just M.D. students, having a knowledge of higher education broadly is going to help INMED leverage our services across campus.”
Monette-Barajas started on July 1 and spent his first few days on the job prioritizing strategic initiatives with staff and, most importantly, meeting with students from across the School’s many training programs. He begins his work alongside the incoming M.D. Class of 2030, which began its studies at North Dakota’s only interprofessional school of medicine and health sciences last week.
“INMED is one of our most enduring and mission-driven programs, playing a vital role in preparing Indigenous physicians and health professionals who will improve the health of their communities,” added Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, Dean of the SMHS and vice president for Health Affairs at UND. “Mr. Monette-Barajas brings a unique combination of North Dakota roots, national leadership in supporting Native American scholars, and understanding of higher education. All of this will be invaluable as we continue to grow INMED’s impact. We are thrilled to welcome him to the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences and look forward to the impact he will have on our students, our School, and the communities we serve.”
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Brian James Schill
Director, Office of Communications & Engagement
UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences
701.777.6048 direct | 701.777.4305 office
brian.schill@UND.edu | www.und.edu