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The authors report on the 2006 Pathways Into Health Conference held in Denver, Colorado.
Pathways works to promote cultural integration and on site educational experiences, using distance learning methods to connect higher education resources to the communities where much of the learning occurs and the health care is delivered. Its strategy is designed to overcome longstanding barriers by making the training and its impact more immediate and more visible to American Indian and Alaska Native communities, whose leaders encourage their young people to consider becoming health professionals, provide role models to inspire them, and enlist cultural and family support that is critical to reduce isolation during training.
At the same time, Pathways works to enhance the understanding of academic partners about culturally supportive educational environments; valuing work-based learning that is consonant with cultural ways of knowing; and closing the gap between training and health care delivery by incorporating students directly into the delivery of health care that meets community needs.

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