As tribal nations across Oklahoma continue expanding and managing their own healthcare systems, the need for leaders who understand them continues to grow alongside it. The School of Health Care Administration at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences is addressing this need with the Tribal Health Graduate Certificate.

The Tribal Health Graduate Certificate was established in Spring 2025 and is the first of its kind in Oklahoma.

Brandi Payton, adjunct professor of healthcare administration at OSU-CHS, said some of the biggest challenges facing tribal healthcare administration are collaboration between tribal and federal governments, and workforce recruitment and retention.

“Oklahoma has 39 federally recognized tribes, and many of them are starting to run their own health systems. It’s unprecedented growth. And if our doctors and nurses don’t have leadership that understands the system, we risk losing all the progress we’ve made,” said Payton, a Cherokee Nation citizen.

She grew up in the Indian Health Service, which led her to work in tribal health administration. She helped found the Oklahoma Indigenous Nurses Association and is the current president-elect of the American College of Healthcare Executives of Oklahoma.

Payton said the graduate certificate goes beyond regular healthcare management or leadership.

“It blends the uniqueness of Indian Health, tribal sovereignty, the cultural component and leadership,” she said.

One of the first graduates of the program, Tonya Wapskineh, enrolled to deepen her understanding of the evolving tribal healthcare landscape.

Wapskineh is a Cherokee Nation citizen and director of the Native American Primary Care Center of Excellence at OSU-CHS. With more than 20 years of experience working in tribal health, the certificate provided her with a chance to refresh her knowledge, and it aligned with her professional goals.

“A lot of information on Indian health has changed since I completed my Master of Public Health, and this program lined up with the direction I’m going in; to go back into tribal health or continue working with future Native or non-Native physicians that want to be in tribal health,” she said.

Wapskineh is also completing her Doctorate of Health Care Administration at OSU-CHS. The certificate’s courses also complemented her doctoral research, which focuses on incorporating traditional Indigenous medicine back into modern healthcare.

She plans on utilizing the knowledge and perspectives she gained in her role as director of the Native American Primary Care Center of Excellence.

“By sharing this information with our future Native and non-Native physicians going into tribal health, I can help bridge a pathway by providing traditional and cultural knowledge,” Wapskineh said.

Both Payton and Wapskineh believe the certificate is invaluable to students and the tribal health systems they serve, whether as physicians, administrators or other professionals.

“With this certificate, we’re growing our leaders and helping them to work collaboratively while respecting tribal sovereignty. Then add culture into it, and it’s very special and needed,” Payton said.

Wapskineh encourages anyone interested in working in tribal health in any position to consider the graduate certificate.

“Healthcare administration is not the same throughout the United States, and there’s different populations that people will want to work for. This certificate will add to their knowledge of how to treat Native American populations and support the greater cause of having healthier patients,” she said.