Twelve who aspire to become doctors begin Imi Ho'ola Program

Posted: Aug 2, 2011

Twelve new students at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) have entered the Class of 2011-12 in the Imi Ho'ola Post-Baccalaureate Program, one of the most successful programs in the country to promote diversity in medicine.

 

This year's incoming class includes three students from Hawai'i Island--a part of the state where the physician shortage is greatest--eight are from O'ahu, and one from Guam. Eight of the 12 are women, and eight are graduates of the University of Hawai'i Mānoa.

 

Eight of the twelve new "Imi" students are graduates of public high schools, including Honoka'a High, Hilo High, Pearl City High, Aiea High, Kalani High, Kapolei High and Leilehua High School. The private school foursome includes graduates of Sacred Hearts, Kamehameha Schools, Maryknoll and Father Duenas Memorial School (in Guam).

 

Imi Ho’ola, a program within the medical school’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health, seeks out promising college graduates from disadvantaged or under-served communities, offering them a year of intensive preparation for medical school. By completing the training, they earn a place in the next class of MD students. The program has produced more than 200 physicians, including a former state director of health, Chiyome Fukino, MD, the chief medical officer at The Queen's Medical Center, Gerard Akaka, MD, JABSOM's Chair of Psychiatry, Naleen Andrade, MD, and many other outstanding physicians who have gone on to serve, and "give back to" the communities from which they came. In the Native Hawaiian language, Imi Ho'ola means "Those Who Seek to Heal."

 

The Department of Native Hawaiian Health and Imi Ho'ola have received major support from The Queen's Medical Center.