HONOLULU — A few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which is destined to change the way physicians practice medicine and how Americans access health care, students began their first year at the John A.
HONOLULU — A few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which is destined to change the way physicians practice medicine and how Americans access health care, students began their first year at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
The new class has a “strong Neighbor Island presence,” with 11 out 66 first-year students being from Kaua‘i, Maui and Big Island regions where a physician shortage makes it challenging to receive timely primary health care, UH reported last week.
“You work so hard to get up to this point and it seems like it’s finally paying off,” says Kaua‘i’s Randi Olds, first-year medical student. “The white coat symbolizes that we are about to be physicians and it’s really exciting.”
Chosen from more than 1,600 applicants who sought to study at UH JABSOM, the 66 aspiring doctors in the newest MD class received the hip-length white coats that marked them as medical students during a ceremony July 20.
The students also recited the Oath of Hippocrates, sacred to their profession, as they began their journey to become healers, according to a UH press release.
The entering class, made up of 40 women and 26 men, will study alongside the 200 other students (second-, third- and fourth-year students) pursuing their MD degrees at JABSOM.
In addition to training medical students, JABSOM also oversees the post-MD medical training of another 250 physicians being supervised during their intern and residency years at Hawai‘i’s major medical centers.
JABSOM is the overwhelming source of doctors treating patients in the state, UH reports. About half of the practicing physicians in Hawai‘i are graduates of JABSOM, its residency program and/or are on the faculty.
Quick facts about the entering MD class:
• They will be the first JABSOM class to use iPads for all their course work. The school’s problem-based learning curriculum has been adjusted to incorporate the Apple tablet computer.
• The average student age is 24, with the range from 20 to 33.
• 58 of the 66 are Hawai‘i residents.
• Of the 11 Neighbor Island students, eight are from Big Island, two are from Maui and one is from Kaua‘i.
• 83 percent graduated from Hawai‘i high schools (23 public, 32 private).
• The class includes two sets of siblings (brother and sister).
• The public schools with most graduates in the incoming class are Waiakea and Roosevelt, with three each.
• 14 of the 66 have advanced degrees, including 13 holders of master’s degrees and a PhD.
• 16 attended the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa for their undergraduate studies.
• 61 percent of the incoming students are women.
