Three Levels of Autonomy and One Long-Term Solution for Native American Health Care.

Native Americans have twice the poverty rate of the general US population, suffer significant health inequity, and are chronically underrepresented, at only 0.08%, in the US physician workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated key ethical, clinical, and economic complexities in health decision making among Native patients. This article discusses 3 levels of autonomy relevant to health decisions, including taking care of our own by increasing numbers of Native medical students.