Siobhan Wescott facts for kids

Siobhan Wescott is an American educator and a leader in health. She is a Professor of American Indian Health at the Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. Before this, she led the Indians into Medicine program at the University of North Dakota. There, she helped train many Native American doctors. In 2022, she was named one of the top leaders in health sciences by Stat News.

Early Life and Learning

Siobhan Wescott is from the Alaskan Athabaskan people. She grew up in a small cabin near Fairbanks, Alaska. A public health meeting in Anchorage, Alaska inspired her to become a doctor. She believed that having more Native Americans in medicine would make healthcare better for everyone.

Wescott studied government at Dartmouth College. After college, she worked for Senator Tom Daschle from South Dakota. She also worked with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Later, she moved to California and earned a master's degree in public health.

When she was 35, Wescott earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She then joined the teaching staff there. She started a program called Four Directions Summer Research. This program helped Native American college students find careers in medicine.

Helping Native American Health

In 2019, Wescott became the Director of the Indians into Medicine program at the University of North Dakota. She was worried because there were very few Native American doctors. At that time, only a tiny number of doctors in the U.S. were Native American or Alaska Natives. She worked hard to train more Native American doctors.

She also teamed up with the American Medical Association to hold a yearly meeting. This meeting helps encourage more people from different backgrounds to become doctors.

In 2021, Wescott became the first Director of American Indian Health at the Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. She holds a special title named after two sisters, Dr. Susan and Susette LaFlesche. These sisters were from the Omaha Tribe and worked to improve public health.

In her new role, Wescott works to make healthcare fair for everyone. She also wants Native Americans to trust doctors more. One of her first projects was to encourage Native Americans to create a special quilt. This quilt honored people in their communities who had passed away from COVID-19.

In 2022, Stat News recognized Wescott as one of the top leaders in life sciences.