Hawaii Inter-Island Coalition for Primary Care Pathways is looking for your help!
The John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at the University of Hawaii is located in Honolulu County on the island of Oahu. JABSOM’s curriculum gives medical students the opportunity to have exposure to patient care on the Neighbor Islands. However, opportunities to advise and mentor Neighbor Island pre-medical students is limited due to lack of program infrastructure and funding. Access to primary care is critically limited by provider shortages and exacerbated in rural areas by Hawaiʻi’s unique geography. The primary goal of our project is to address the growing physician shortage across the Hawaiʻian islands.
With the shrinking number of students from rural areas matriculating into medical schools nationwide, it is incumbent for Hawai‘i to create its own opportunities for underserved students from the rural Neighbor Islands (Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, and Maui Counties). HICPCP will develop a program that will assess the needs of Neighbor Island students, then establish or facilitate access to resources to address those needs. HICPCP’s goal is to empower Neighbor Island students to pursue a career in medicine, thereby tackling the physician shortage in their hometowns.