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Navajo surgeon Arviso-Alvord speaks at Fuller Lodge July 22

Dr. Lori Arviso-Alvord, the first Navajo woman surgeon, associate dean for student and minority affairs at Dartmouth Medical School and assistant professor of surgery will talk at 3 p.m., July 22, in Fuller Lodge downtown. The talk is open to all Laboratory employees, subcontract personnel and the public.

"Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times," describes Arviso-Alvord's journey from the reservation to become a surgeon and her work to combine Navajo philosophies of healing with western medicine.

Arviso-Alvord's talk is sponsored by the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) and the New Mexico EEO and Diversity Council.

Arviso-Alvord also is one of the plenary and keynote speakers at the 18th annual Equal Employment Opportunity Diversity Training and Awareness seminar July 23 and 24 at the Marriott Pyramid North Hotel in Albuquerque.

Arviso-Alvord is a graduate of Dartmouth and Stanford Medical School; she trained at Stanford University Hospital, and served as chief surgical resident. Subsequently, Arviso-Alvord spent six years as a general surgeon at the Indian Medical Center in Gallup, near her home community. She received her bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1979 and her medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1985.

At Dartmouth Medical School, Arviso-Alvord oversees student and minority affairs, admissions, financial aid, the registrar's office and the advising program, and she has a general surgery practice. She also teaches several courses and is a member of Dartmouth's Native American Visiting Committee.

In her autobiography, "The Scalpel and the Silver Bear," Arviso-Alvord relates her attempt to bring state-of-the-art skills to the Navajo culture -- a culture in which the removal of organs is strongly resisted.

"In the Navajo world, there is an emphasis on connectedness, how you relate to everything around you. We call it Nizoni, which translates as 'walking in beauty,' " Arviso-Alvord wrote in her autobiography. "I think surgery relates directly to this. I know that my actions directly alter the course of my patients' lives and I take this into account during an operation."

Arviso-Alvord said integrating the Navajo world with the non-Navajo world has been a life struggle for her. Although her father was Diné/Navajo and she was raised on the reservation near Crownpoint, her mother is white and English was the first language spoken in her home.

While some might think a mixed heritage might account for her extraordinary accomplishments, Arviso-Alvord said she sees it differently. "My biggest role model was my paternal grandmother, Grace Cupp, who was a teacher and principal at the Bureau of Indian Affairs School at White Horse Lake on the reservation for 40 years. I saw early that a woman could work at a job and make a difference in people's lives. She had virtually no other Navajo role models. When my grandmother was growing up she never met a Navajo doctor, a Navajo lawyer or a Navajo engineer," Arviso-Alvord said.

Arviso-Alvord has served on national panels on research funding and setting standards for health care, including the NIH Women's Health Initiative. Her numerous awards include an honorary degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa from Albany Medical College (2001), the Sirridge "Outstanding Women in Medicine" Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (2001) and the Governor's Award for Outstanding Women (1992).

Married to Jonathan Alvord, Arviso-Alvord has two children, Kodiak and Kaitlyn, and lives in Enfield, N.H.

For more information about the EEO/Diversity Seminar in Albuquerque, see the June 5 Daily Newsbulletin.

-- Kathryn Ostic

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