Liaison Committee on Medical Education Accreditation, Part VII: Diversity/Pipeline Programs and Partnerships
Winona K. Lee MD
The Medical School Hotline is a monthly column from the John A. Burns School of Medicine and is edited by Satoru Izutsu Ph.D.; HJMPH Contributing Editor. Dr. Izutsu is the vice-dean of the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine and has been the Medical School Hotline editor since 1993.
This article is part of an ongoing series describing various components of the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) medical education curricula, activities, and initiatives relevant to the Liaison CommitteeonMedicalEducation(LCME)accreditation standards. JABSOM’s LCME visit will take place in early 2017. This article provides an overview of JABSOM’s diversity/pipeline programs and partnerships.
Introduction Physicians must be prepared to care for Hawaiʻi and the nation’s communities, whose patient populations are rapidly rising in the United States. In Hawaiʻi, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) compose 26.2% of the total population, but account for only 3.7% of the total physician workforce.2 Diversity in medicine is important as the literature has demonstrated that minority physicians are more likely than white physicians, to care for minority, poor, uninsured, rural, and Medicaid patients as well as practice in underserved areas.3,4 With the physician workforce shortage faced by Hawaiʻi, it is critical to producing local physicians who will be committed to practice in rural and underserved communities throughout Hawaiʻi.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa (UHM) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) continues to demonstrate a commitment to promote diversity in medicine. It is based in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health. This is the only clinical department in a U.S. medical school focused on improving the health of indigenous populations, through its longstanding diversity pipeline programs such as the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence and the ʻImi Hoʻola Post-Baccalaureate Program.5 The following are examples of how JABSOM continues to address the following LCME requirement related to diversity.
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