Dustin Cavanaugh
"By recieving help from the George Pease Scholarship, I have been able to concentrate harder on school. It also freed my time upfor more clubs and student organizations."
Profile By Renata Birkenbuel
Dustin Cavanaugh, University of Montana undergraduate student and recipient of the George Pease Scholarship for Native American Studies, emanates strong medicine in more ways than one.
Eyeing a long-term goal of becoming a doctor and returning to his home state of Nevada to practice at an Indian Health Service, Cavanaugh is pursuing a degree in Biology-Human Services, with a minor in Native American Studies. His dream? To eventually serve any Native community, but preferably the Southern Bands Health Clinic in Elko, where his family lives, and where he grew up receiving health care.
He wants to actively assure that the tradition continues.
“Iwant tobe ableto serve my home community by pairing my understanding of Native culture with the know-how of a well-trained physicianin order to deliverthe high quality ofcare and understandingthateveryone should beentitled to,” says Cavanaugh. “All too oftenI hear elders talk about howtheir physician just doesn't understandour culturalpractices andhow thathas led to conflicts within their quality of care.”
Winning the George Pease scholarship gave him a strong shot in the arm when he needed it most.
”It was a huge confidence booster at the timebecause I was in the middle of a tough semester,” he says. “It seemed to give me the little motivational booster that I needed. It is very rewarding to know that other people have taken interest in my education. I justcan't seem to express how much that means to me.
“I was very excited! I worked hard to get the grades that I had received, and that scholarshipgave me even more incentive to work harder.”
While “lost in the shuffle” as a freshman at Idaho State University, he quickly transferred to UM after a visit to the popular Kyi-Yo Annual Pow Wow drew him like a magnet.
“I couldn't believe how helpfulthe UM staffwas with everything, from advising to student housing, not to mentionall the great professors that I have been able to take classes from,” adds Cavanaugh. “To me, the UM means a high quality of educationprovided by professors that really care about their students, and advisers that are willing to take the time to help students plot out their pathway to success.”
Once a Salesman of the Month at a car dealership in Billings, Cavanaugh decided that the business route was not for him. The medical community will someday be glad of that.
“I worked full time and attended school full time as a freshmen. It was very tough trying to balance schoolwith work. Then there was always the stress of worrying about making next semester's tuition, but with a scholarship my worires about funding have really come down. By recieving help from the George Pease Scholarship, I have been able to concentrate harder on school. It also freed my time upfor more clubs and student organizations.”
He lists Kathy Wesphal, his Anatomy and Physiology professor, as his biggest influence in school. In life, it’s his father:
“As a young child he taught me the value of hard work and always emphasized the importance oftaking on challenges witha positive attitude. As a child I loved spending time with him,whetherit was feeding cattle in themiddle of winter or fishingon a warmsummerday. There was no place I would have rather been.”
