The Changing Face of Medicine: Dr. Sara K. Dye

The National Library of Medicine has organized an exhibition honoring the lives and accomplishments of women doctors who are making a difference in the world of medicine. The exhibition, "Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians" is on display at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Tribal Connections will devote a space each month to featuring accomplished Native American women doctors from this exhibit.

Dr. Sara K. Dye was born in Oklahoma City and is a member of the SacFox and Shawnee tribes. In high school, Dr. Dye was told by a counselor that her grades were not good enough for her to attend medical school, so she studied to become an X-ray technician. After graduating with the highest grade on her radiologic technologist exam, she regained the confidence to try and become a doctor. She enrolled in the pre-med program at Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah, graduating with a 3.8 GPA, and received her M.D. in 1975 from the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Dr. Dye worked as a general medical officer at the Claremore Indian Hospital in Oklahoma and did a residency in general surgery at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, becoming at the time one of only 16 American Indian surgeons practicing in the United States. In 1983, she was named staff surgeon at Carl Albert Indian Hospital in Ada, Oklahoma, and in 1994 took the position of chief medical officer for the Aberdeen, South Dakota Indian Health Service. In 2003, she was appointed assistant professor of family medicine at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. Among her many awards, Dr. Dye was named the Outstanding Indian Health Service Clinician in 1992.

Dr. Dye is currently interested in reducing the number of diabetes-related amputations among American Indians, and in 1984 she developed the first Non-Invasive Vascular Laboratory for the Indian Health Service, and was appointed director of the institute.

To view the entire profile of Dr. Dye, please visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_92.html