On August 13, 2022, the six inaugural Kaua‘i Medical Training Track medical students met leaders from Kaua‘i’s healthcare community at a special event at The Plantation House by Gaylords. The event was an opportunity for the first-year medical students to meet healthcare partners, and for the team from the University of Hawai‘i John A Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) to thank the medical community for their support of this innovative new program.
The Kaua‘i Medical Training Track is a new multi-pronged program on Kaua‘i funded by a $10 million commitment from Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg. The goal is to help address the physician shortage and directly improve the health and wellness of Kaua‘i’s families, today and in the future.
Through the Kaua‘i Medical Training Track, six JABSOM medical students, with ties to Kaua‘i or another neighbor island and/or a strong interest in rural health, are accepted into the program annually. The program funds tuition and fees for all four years, as well as transportation and lodging.
The first cohort of Kaua‘i Medical Training Track students are Brent Fujimoto, Dylan Lawton, Jaime Emoto, Erin Evangelista, Ivana Yoon and Kirra Borrello.
Jamie Emoto, one of the future doctors who was raised on Kaua‘i said, “When I saw that there was an opportunity early on in my training as a medical student, to learn rural medicine on Kaua‘i, I was incredibly interested. I feel very honored to learn rural medicine from the very people who inspired me to pursue medicine. I am excited to learn alongside a group of bright and compassionate students who also have the common goal of learning from and caring for the people of rural Hawai‘i. We are all very grateful to Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg for this amazing opportunity.”
Dr. Priscilla Chan warmly greeted the cohort in a video message. She said, “As a doctor, I know that people are the most important thing in our medical system. I’m inspired by you because you have dedicated your medical training to serve the healthcare needs of communities, particularly rural communities like in Kaua‘i. Mark and I are honored to support this program and look forward to following your progress as you train and hone your rural healthcare skills.”
Overseeing the program is Director of Rural Training Dr. Travis Hong. Hong added, “We are so grateful to the donors, Kaua‘i Community College, and to our healthcare provider partners for their strong support and active engagement around this program. It is going to be amazing to see our students build relationships and confidence as physicians, while learning in our community clinics and local health care centers.”
Questions? / More Information
If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808 376-7800 or send us a message.
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The University of Hawai‘i Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawai‘i System. The mission of the University of Hawai‘i Foundation is to unite donors’ passions with the University of Hawai‘i’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawai‘i and our future generations. uhfoundation.org
