Family Medicine Graduate Returns Home to Serve Community
Aaron Bia, MD, is a Navajo Physician serving as a Staff Physician at the Chinle Comprehensive Health Facility in Chinle, AZ, on the Navajo Nation. A 2024 graduate of the Family Medicine Residency Program, Dr. Bia has returned to his hometown to serve his community.
We recently discussed his role, how the Residency Program prepared him, and his advice for residents.
Tell us about your current role and practice.
I am an outpatient primary care physician who enjoys seeing patients of all ages from newborns to geriatrics (my oldest patient is 104!). My practice includes staffing our BRIDGE clinic for patients with substance abuse disorders and providing gender-affirming care services for my patients.
In addition, I practice as an inpatient hospitalist for our rural community managing anything from pneumonias to heart failure exacerbations. I love my job as a rural Family Medicine physician because I get to grow with my patients and utilize my wide range of skills.
Returning home to my community has been valuable in reconnecting to my culture, language, and people. I carry the legacy of my grandfather who is a traditional healer in my tribe; to provide comfort and healing hands to my patients.
In what ways did your training in the Family Medicine Residency Program equip you for your current role?
My residency training has prepared me well to be an outstanding provider to see all walks of life. My passion for rural health was amplified when I got to rotate in tribal clinics in Utah and travel with the UUSOM medical students to the reservation to teach about native health. I served a chief year in my residency where I got to build on my leadership and advocacy skills.
How did your residency experience influence your approach to patient care and your overall practice today?
Throughout my medical training, I’ve always viewed my patients as my teachers where I’m learning something new every day. I am grateful for all my residency attendings who molded me into the physician I am today to be efficient and impactful. I often hear my mentor’s voice, Dr. Kara Frame, still coaching me in clinic with my goals of the day and handling each patient with grace.
Would you be interested in having residents rotate with you?
I would love to have residents from my FM program rotate with me in Chinle! It is a unique experience to see our tribal resiliency and a privilege to serve native communities. Our learners rotate not only in FM but in pediatrics, internal medicine, ER, inpatient medicine/peds, women’s health, public health, EMS, and native medicine.
What advice can you offer to current residents?
Enjoy the journey and learn as much as possible! Residency is hard, so find your people and enjoy the be-utah-ful mountains!
Is there anything else you would like to share?
As a Native physician who is a member of the community, I enjoy talking to students in high school on the reservations about my journey in medicine. I hope to inspire and advocate for the next generation of Native healers much like my grandfather did for me.