DOVE SPECTOR

AFFILIATION
NEZ PERCE

CURRENT POSITION
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

NORTHWEST PORTLAND AREA
INDIAN HEALTH BOARD

SPECIALTY
POLICY - TRIBAL COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMS

CHILDHOOD

Dove is a descendant of the Nez Perce tribe and grew up in Portland, Oregon with her four sisters and two brothers. Dove comes from a mixed family. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mom remarried while she was in elementary school. Growing up she would visit family on the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho every summer. One of her fondest memories while visiting Lapwai was for her cousin EJ’s high school graduation. The highlight of that trip was running in and out of her Uncle’s house playing kickball, monopoly and hide and seek with all her siblings and cousins.

HIGH SCHOOL

Dove graduated from Centennial High School in 2009 and was a member of the marching band, played basketball for one season and hung out with all the nerdy, over achievers. Dove and her siblings were one of the few American Indians in the school district. During her senior year while having a discussion of healthcare with her friends, Dove realized her experience with healthcare and providers were much different from her friends. This was the moment Dove knew she had a calling to medicine and a fire ignited within her to serve her people.

COLLEGE

After High School Dove struggled to find her path into college. She was the first in her immediate family to go to college and had to learn this foreign system on her own. While she navigated the system of financial aid, admissions etc. she worked at a bank. She started off college first by attending Portland Community College and then transferring to Portland State University. During her transition from community college to university she started working as an optometric technician to help pay for her school. This is where Dove met her first mentor along her path, Dr. An. Dove struggled with confidence of becoming a doctor because at this point in her life she had never met a doctor like her. After working with Dr. An, Dove realized that you don’t have to be from this elite group to become a doctor. What you need is a calling and mentors to encourage/guide you along the way. That same year she met Dr. Kelly Gonzales (Cherokee). Dr. Gonzales was the first AI/AN with a doctorate degree she had met and it is because of her she stayed on the path of medicine and public health. College was hard and if she didn’t have Dr. An and Dr. Gonzales connecting her to resources and encouraging her she probably wouldn’t have finished.

POST COLLEGE

Shortly after graduating from Portland State University with a Bachelor’s of Science, she welcomed her son, Owen, into the world. With her young son, Dove decided to take some time between undergrad and medical school and focus on research. She was fortunate that the research she stumbled upon was to work for Dr. Erik Brodt (Ojibwe) at the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence as the student engagement and outreach coordinator. In this position she connected with AI/AN youth interested in health professional career regionally and nationally. Her work in this role, has been a tremendous honor to provide the guidance and support Dove so desperately craved while she was in high school and college to the next generation of AI/AN health professionals.

CURRENT

Dove continues to work in workforce development with the Pacific Northwest Tribes. Dove is supporting the educational pathway and political advocacy for mid-level dental providers in order to achieve culturally competent care to our Northwest tribes. Dove welcomed a daughter, Kyle, in to the world a year ago. Dove is enjoying the time with both her children before her next step on her pathway to medicine.