Yolandra Gomez, MD, MPH

Dr. Yolandra Gomez, MD, MPH, is from Dulce, New Mexico, and a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

She graduated from Princeton with an undergraduate degree in Public Policy, earned a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and then completed a medical degree and pediatric residency from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

After working in private practice in the Albuquerque area for 17 years, Dr. Gomez returned home to serve the Jicarilla Apache Nation as a Pediatric Health Consultant and Epidemiologist. After identifying a crucial need for early intervention services for children and pregnant women, she obtained federal funding to create a Jicarilla Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.  In addition, with the assistance of a grant through the CDC and National Indian Health Board, she formed a Data and Health Information project primarily using Electronic Case Reporting for the tribe that will enable them to collect their own data, determine research priorities and act as a public health authority. Eventually Dr. Gomez plans to open a Comprehensive Pediatric Specialty Clinic on the reservation that will be open to all community members.

She recently served as the first Native American woman elected to the Princeton University Board of Trustees.  She continues to be a Community Faculty member at the UNM School of Medicine and teaches medical students in rural primary care and epidemiology and is a mentor to high school and college Native American students interested in the field of medicine