Steven Jump (Cherokee Nation) - First-Year Medical Student

Project Title: Building Connection Through Beading, Mentorship, and Community Care

Steven Jump launched a beading circle project to foster community, creativity, and cultural continuity among Native health and pre-health students. After reviewing all applicants, Steven mailed out 15 beading kits to participants across various health disciplines—including nursing, public health, dentistry, medicine, and naturopathic care. Each kit included supplies to make dangle loop earrings, badge reels, and a lanyard—providing a creative and grounding outlet for Native students navigating rigorous academic paths.

In addition to the kits, Steven created eight mentor-mentee pairings based on shared personal and professional interests. While only one synchronous beading session took place due to scheduling challenges, that single Sunday gathering was deeply meaningful—filled with storytelling, laughter, and cultural sharing. He plans to host two more informal sessions in the coming year and envisions the circle continuing organically into the future.

“Assembling and sending the kits was incredibly special to me. I don’t think I would have started beading without my classmates at the Dartmouth beading circle—getting to pass that on to others brought me so much joy.”

Steven also used the HCC return-home stipend to attend the Cherokee National Holiday in Tahlequah—his first time back in nearly 20 years. He visited WW Hastings Hospital, reconnecting with family and community, and dreaming of returning for future clinical rotations or residency.

Professionally, Steven spent his summer back in Seattle through the Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program, working with mentor Dr. Dornell Pete on a tribal cancer needs assessment for Washington State at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He also returned to the Seattle Indian Health Board, where he previously worked as a medical assistant, reconnecting with patients and mentors who shaped his path to medicine.

“It was so special to care for patients I knew as a medical assistant—now as a med student. Many remembered me. Being back felt like coming full circle.”

A Message to Future Healers:

“Continue your cultural and community learning—whatever that means to you.
The traditional practices and values others have shared with me have kept me balanced through med school, and they will help me serve our people far more than anything I’ve learned in a classroom.”

Steven Jump, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has roots in Sallisaw, OK through his father's family and in Mexico through his mother's family, having grown up in Santa Paula, California. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 2021 with a degree in Native American and Environmental Studies and is currently a first-year medical student at UC San Diego, participating in the PRIME-TIDE (Transforming Indigenous Doctor Education) Program. Prior to UCSD, Steven worked as a registered medical assistant and public health associate at the Seattle Indian Health Board and Urban Indian Health Institute, where he developed a passion for integrating public health research and Traditional Indian Medicine into clinical practice. Outside the classroom and clinic, Steven enjoys running, hiking, and teaching running, beading, and ribbon skirt workshops with the UCSD ANAMS chapter. Guided by the Cherokee value of ᏕᏣᏓᎵᎨᏁᏗᏍᎨᏍᏗ, meaning "we all take responsibility for each other's well-being," Steven aspires to practice family medicine at an IHS, Urban Indian, or Tribal clinic, where he can build long-standing relationships with his patients and community.