Pictured: The JABSOM group throws shakas from Kansas, Missouri during the AAFP Conference, Aug. 2-4, 2018. Arcelita Imasa photo.
By Arcelita Imasa, MD Candidate, UH JABSOM Class of 2019
Both medical students and alumni of the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) met in Kansas City, Missouri during the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) National Conference for Residents and Medical Students in early August 2018.
Fourth-year medical students Matthew Duenas and Arcelita Imasa as well as Drs. Christine Chan and Meghann Lau Martelly, both JABSOM 2016 graduates, joined the crowd of over five thousand current and aspiring family doctors in the country who attended the conference.
Imasa and Dr. Kelley Withy also presented a poster featuring a community project on health policy transformation that they are working on with the support of the JABSOM Hawaii/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
Here’s what they have to say about becoming family doctors:
“I became a family doctor because for me this is the best way to serve the underserved and because I love the variety in my everyday routine as a doctor. I also love the outpatient procedures and was most inspired by my mentors in family medicine in my journey,” said Dr. Lau-Martelly.
“I’m deciding to pursue family medicine because I believe in developing unparalleled insight into our patients, and in practicing a broad spectrum of medicine with a particular ability to care for the underserved. I am also interested in preventative medicine, which I can pursue via family medicine as a specialty,” said Duenas, JABSOM MD candidate 2019.
As for attending the conference,
“It is very inspiring to meet caring and passionate medical students who are going to make big changes in the way that healthcare is delivered in the future. We are faced with a lot of challenges in healthcare, but it is also great to know that family doctors are committed to action to address physician burnout, primary care shortage, and inadequate healthcare of many, among others,” Imasa said.