The University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) has been awarded more than $5 million to fund programs aimed at preparing young people in Hawaiʻi for health careers.
“At JABSOM we are very interested in helping prepare our state’s bright young students for career opportunities in health-related fields,” said Kelley Withy, MD, PhD, and Director of the JABSOM Area Health Education Center, who oversees the programs.
“There’s an enormous demand for health care workers in Hawai’i and it will only grow. We’re not just talking about physicians, but also about the hundreds of health professions that are needed to take care of our population, such as ultrasound technicians, community health workers, and biomedical scientists.”
The programs that aim to spark an interest in health care include Teen Health Camps held twice a year on the neighbor islands and once annually on O’ahu. Following a successful run in Hilo in August, the next Teen Health Camp will be held on the JABSOM Kaka’ako campus on Saturday, November 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. The camp includes free workshops for middle school and high school students who are interested in health careers. JABSOM medical students act as teaching assistants to these students, who are taught how to make a cast for a broken bone, sew up a cut on a mannequin’s arm and perform other hands-on activities.
The daylong camps also teach participants about good nutrition, and include question-and- answer sessions with health care professionals.
More about the grants awarded to our healthcare pipeline projects:
Hilo Teen Health Camp August 2015–What a turnout!
The Hawaiʻi Pacific Basin Health Career Opportunities Program (HCOP) and the National Health Workforce Diversity Pipeline program (NWDPP), have received grants totaling $3.9 million through 2020. HCOP’s goal is to increase the diversity of Hawaiʻi’s future health professionals workforce across the Pacific by providing Summer Bridge Programs. NWDPP provides opportunities for disadvantaged and minority students to pursue medical education and health careers through mentoring and online educational opportunities. Both programs support the creation of a PreHealth Career Corps for students interested in health careers to get experience with research, shadowing, test preparation and application support throughout the process.
The HiSCI (Hawai’i Science Career Inspiration) program has received a $1.2 million grant to jumpstart science education experiences among young people by mentoring students and providing teacher professional development and resources. Students and counselors will receive a copy of a Health Careers Navigator book that outlines the options in health available in Hawaii and options for inclusion in activities such as the Teen Health Camps, sponsored by the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
Additional contacts:
Kau’i Mead, MA kauional@hawaii.edu
Recruitment Specialist, Area Health Education Centers
Kira Hughes kirawa@hawaii.edu
HiSCI Project Coordinator, JABSOM