Can you tell the story of how you became a doctor?
By Arne Vainio, MD Can you tell the story of how you became a doctor? It seemed like a simple enough question, “Dr. Vainio, can you tell the story of how you became a doctor?” I thought that would be a relatively straightforward story, but it isn’t. Like anything else, this is bits and pieces […]
By Arne Vainio, MD I was at a two day medical conference a few weeks ago getting caught up on my continuing education credits. Some of these can be done online, but some are required to be done in a group setting. I was in a group with a geneticist and we discussed the inherited […]
I thought I had more time
By Arne Vainio, MD He looked so much older since Donnie died. A year earlier I saw them together hauling wood and they were drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes in the cab of Brian’s old pickup truck. We never talked about happiness. They swore at each other, and they swore at their chain saws, and […]
I wish things could have been different between us
By Arne Vainio, MD I had just finally been able to go to sleep when my pager went off. I knew the phone number all too well and was soon heading in for a delivery at 4:00 AM. Things didn’t go exactly like they were supposed to and after several hours I consulted the OB […]
By Arne Vainio (This article was written in 2015. The video mentioned here is no longer online.) I’ve been writing this column for a few years and sometimes I get emails in response to them. These can be from someone in a similar situation or someone who cares about someone in a similar situation. The […]
Residential Redemption
By Arnie Vainio, MD The Association of American Indian Physicians recently held our annual meeting and conference. American Indian physicians and medical students from all over the nation met on Zoom. In this four-day conference we saw our people dedicating their lives to everything from prenatal care and delivering babies to end-of-life care. I was […]
Vaccinations start as COVID-19 deaths and infections hit milestones before the holidays
By Lee Egerstrom Vaccines for preventing the COVID-19 virus began arriving in Minnesota a week before the Christmas holidays even as the state was reaching new milestones for infections, hospitalizations and deaths. More than 3,000 frontline healthcare workers were among the first to be inoculated after initial shipments of the Pfizer vaccine reached Minnesota destinations […]
IHB launches programs on Sexual Health and Education
By Hannah Broadbent If you’ve been at any bus stops, light rail stations or any high-traffic area in South Minneapolis you’ve probably noticed Indian Health Board (IHB) sponsored flyers that read “Honor Your Body and Your Culture”. These flyers are part of a much larger effort to normalize the conversation around sex. “Through boarding schools […]
Johns Hopkins’ move into Minnesota seen as gain for Indian health research
By Lee Egerstrom Medical researchers and officials in Duluth insist the opening of a Johns Hopkins University research hub with existing staff from University of Minnesota Medical School should be viewed as an expansion, not a substitution, for ongoing research on American Indian health. Johns Hopkins’ Center for American Indian Health is opening a Great […]