Native American emergency physicians make up 0.1 percent of physicians in U.S. emergency departments, according to research published in 2020 in Annals of Emergency Medicine. Three Native American emergency physicians in Oklahoma—three of five in the state—discussed with ACEP Now their approach to health care and how their careers in medicine began. Brent O. Hale, MD, (Creek), Oklahoma ACEP President James R. Kennedye, MD, MPH, FACEP, (Kiowa), and Brandon Postoak, DO, (Chickasaw), also talked about how they recognize Native American Heritage Month each November.

ACEP Now: What got you into medicine and why emergency medicine?

DR. POSTOAK: I didn’t always know I was going to go into medicine. I’m a little nontraditional. I didn’t get into medical school until I was about 25. Before that, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I had a lot of different experiences before finally getting into science. Once I started learning about medicine, things fell into place, and I realized it was my path. You know, growing up, I didn’t see many Native doctors, so I didn’t think it was something I could do. But when I looked back at my family history, I saw we had a lot of medicine men and women, so it was kind of in my blood. Pursuing medicine felt like it was the right thing to do.

It’s an honor to come back and serve my community, but even now, my direction in medicine keeps evolving every six months or so. I think that’s part of the journey.

Dr. Hale

DR. HALE: I was nontraditional, too. I didn’t go to med school until I was 30. I grew up in Okmulgee, on the Muskogee reservation. Like Brandon, I didn’t know what I was going to do for a long time. I tried a lot of different things—served in the Army, worked as a cook. I got married young and had kids, so I had responsibilities. I finally realized that if I was going to do something meaningful with my life, I needed to take a big step. I always knew I was good at math, but I didn’t know how to apply that skill until I saw an article in the Kansas City Star about an ER physician’s weekend. It was written like a diary, detailing what he did during a weekend shift: codes, traumas, you name it. I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”