American Indian (AI) and Indigenous peoples utilize traditional medicine/healing (TM/H) for health and well-being. Allopathic health care practitioners (HCPs) receive minimal training and education on TM/H and its application and integration into health care settings. Lack of knowledge and practice guidelines on how to navigate these 2 health care perspectives (allopathic and traditional) creates uncertainties in the treatment of AI and Indigenous peoples. Such conflicts can undermine patient autonomy and result in culturally incongruent practice. This article presents a case study showcasing suggestions for how HCPs can direct clinical decision making when working with AI/Indigenous patients who utilize TM/H. The article argues that health professions education institutions and HCPs must dedicate effort to expanding awareness of and education about TM/H to enhance the delivery of evidence-based and integrated clinical treatment for AI/Indigenous patients. Case Ms Q is a 72-year-old Navajo woman seeing Dr S, a new physician at an Indian Health Service (IHS) unit in New Mexico. Ms Q reports 5 months of weight loss, fatigue, epigastric pain, and jaundice. She lives in a remote community on the Navajo Nation, and her granddaughter drove 2 hours to bring her to the IHS clinic, insisting that Ms Q's symptoms should be evaluated by an allopathic physician. Traditional Navajo healing practices and customs are important aspects of Ms Q's life. Although she does not routinely visit the IHS clinic, Ms Q is open to being evaluated by Dr S. In a follow-up visit, Dr S discusses test results with Ms Q. Based on laboratory evidence of obstructive jaundice and a computed tomography scan revealing a solid mass in the head of Ms Q's pancreas, Dr S suspects that Ms Q has pancreatic cancer and recommends endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a procedure that enables examination of the liver and pancreas ducts, with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) to confirm the diagnosis. Ms Q feels hesitant to pursue ERCP with EUS and the required travel and requests to see her medicine man to discuss her symptoms and Dr S's recommendations. Unfamiliar with traditional Navajo healing, Dr S wonders how to respond.
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