Training Doctors Where They're Needed Most
Planting the Seeds for a Healthier Future
August 27, 2026
For the Gila River Indian Community, a new partnership with the University of Arizona is the latest step in creating a new generation of physicians rooted in the community they serve. The milestone partnership also makes Arizona the nation’s first university to grant MDs on the lands of a sovereign Tribal Nation.
Arizona is facing a severe healthcare workforce crisis. The state needs nearly 2,000 additional primary care doctors and over 8,000 total physicians by 2030 to keep pace with rapid population growth and retirements, with shortages disproportionately impacting rural, Tribal, and underserved communities. In response, the University of Arizona and Gila River Health Care (GRHC) – the Gila River Indian Community’s tribally operated healthcare system – are partnering to train doctors where they are needed most.
Beginning in July 2027, ten students annually will enter the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix’s three-year MD-granting Primary Care Accelerated Program at the Gila River Branch. This initiative marks the nation’s first MD-granting medical school branch located on the lands of a sovereign Tribal Nation.
Fully funded through GRHC scholarships, students will spend their first 18 months at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix before moving to Sacaton for 18 months of clinical education. For Gila River, the program is more than a response to a physician shortage, it is an opportunity to shape who provides care, how they are educated, and what they understand about the sovereign nation.
“Healthcare means vibrancy. It means survival. It means resilience.”
– Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community
Healthcare Tailored for the Gila River Indian Community
Thirty years ago, the Gila River Indian Community assumed control of its healthcare system, founding GRHC as a tribally owned and operated entity. The shift allowed the Community to set its own priorities and invest in services tailored to its people.
“By doing that, we're able to provide very specific culturally sensitive care, dignity, and respect,” says Carolyn Thompson, Chief Operations Officer of GRHC.
At Gila River, patient health is deeply connected to history, culture, family, and tradition. Understanding these context factors builds the trust required for effective long-term care.
“When you build that trust, it creates a ripple effect of people owning their care, coming to their appointments, [and] seeking services,” says Robert Pablo, Chairman of GRHC.
Learning Medicine Where Medicine Happens
Medical students will experience Gila River as both a clinical training site and an active community.
“The patients have rich narrative stories,” says Dr. Thomas Rowe, a family medicine doctor in Sacaton affiliated with Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital. “They engage students and assist them in learning about both their culture and their medical history.”
Because research shows physicians often practice where they train, extended clinical exposure increases the likelihood that graduates will choose to stay. Beyond recruitment, the program also aims to redefine who views medicine as a viable career.
“It’s really going to open their eyes to the opportunity, that this is real – I can actually achieve this.”
– Carolyn Thompson, Chief Operations Officer of Gila River Health Care
Planting the Seeds for the Future
The partnership aligns the University of Arizona’s land-grant mission with Gila River’s long-term vision.
“Training [students] in the tribal community where they’re needed most is the best part of this program,” says University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella. “I hope that a decade from now, people will look back at this as the move that helped start bending the curve of physician shortage in Tribal communities.”
The long-term impact will be felt by future medical students, families cared for by providers who understand their background, and patients who trust their doctors enough to take ownership of their health.
“As an agricultural people, we’re planting the seeds for the future”
– Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community