Jessica Kruger, PhD, MCHES
Clinical Associate Professor
Director of Teaching, Innovation, and Excellence
University at Buffalo
The State University of New York
School of Public Health and Health Professions

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

Indigenous people within the United States are drastically underrepresented in the field of medicine. Out of the 23,156 matriculants to U.S. MD-granting medical schools in the 2024-2025 cycle, only 35 identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone, and only 166 identified in combination with another race or ethnicity. To address this disparity, students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the Seneca Nation Education Department collaborated to form an annual event, known as 7th Generation Operation. This event seeks to introduce Indigenous students in grades 6-…