Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum is the new interim dean of Hawaiʻi's only medical school, the University of Hawaiʻi's John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Jerris Hedges stepped down at the end of February after 15 years at the helm.
She is a family practice physician who attended Leilehua High School and Stanford University. Also a JABSOM graduate, Buenconsejo-Lum is the first woman of Filipino descent in that post.
"I'm just really honored. When I started in medical school, I knew I wanted to serve the community. I chose academic medicine rather than going into private practice because I felt I could make a bigger impact by training the next generation of family physicians and being a dean or in this role never ever crossed my mind," she said.
Buenconsejo-Lum spoke to The Conversation about guiding JABSOM and working with the local health care industry.
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Interview Highlights
On her prior experience in the dean's office
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: I was just really blessed to be asked by him (Hedges) to join the dean's office about six years ago. And my overseeing the medical education programs and the graduate medical education programs has really helped to prepare me for this. And I do feel that this is home for me. And I've been privileged to really be here since the second problem-based learning class. So really 1990 is when I started. And so to have been able to witness all the transformation in the curriculum and the expansion, to be awed every day by the research that our amazing researchers do, it's really humbling actually, I mean, we just have such a great ʻohana. And I think we really all try to live that. And so I'm just really honored to help be part of that.
On alleviating the worker shortage in Hawaiʻi's health care industry
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: What JABSOM has been doing for the physician side is we have had these pathway programs for many years that really reach out to the high schools, in some cases reach out to middle schools — they tend to be more concentrated in areas and communities with higher health needs. Because again, we want to attract students from those communities so that they can return to those communities. So we have a lot of pathway programs, we have our ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate Program. For those who are interested in science, maybe not sure about medicine, you know, we have many other programs to just help kind of whet their appetite and see, you know, could health care or science or a research career be for me?
It takes a lot to get into medical school and to succeed in medical school. And it's expensive, even though our medical school is really, for what you get, it's really one of the cheapest in the country. With our cost of living here and the fact that many of our students and their parents, you know, don't come from wealthy families. It's a huge cost. So Dean Hedges has made a huge concerted effort to really get scholarships. We have about a third of the class on four-year, full-ride scholarships, thanks to the Weinmans and to Queen's and Hawaiʻi Pacific Health and Kaiser and Castle and others. But through the generosity of so many other donors, including alumni, about 93% of our students receive some form of scholarship.
On the most recently admitted class at JABSOM
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: For the last several years, it's been more than a majority of women. And so we've got, I think, close to 60% women. So of our 77 students, 85% of them are local Hawaiʻi residents. I think we have about 13 or so from the neighbor islands. We have a handful of folks that are first-generation. And we have increasing numbers who went to University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa or UH Hilo for their undergraduate which is also, you know, fantastic to see.
On hiring new faculty at JABSOM
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: We've had a lot of retirements in our basic science faculty and somewhat in the clinical side but definitely in the basic science side, and with the economy we had a hiring freeze and whatnot for a couple of years. So we haven't quite been able to keep up with those retirements. That's definitely something that's a very high priority because we need to have our research faculty to not only do great research, which is going to benefit the people of Hawaiʻi, but really to also train that next generation of grad students and others. We are a bit short for some of our basic sciences. And then, you know, we do have retirements on the clinician side and you hear about burnout and, and whatnot... But there's no question right, everybody has just been tired. So on the faculty side, on the clinicians, we still have a few positions that are open. And honestly, some of our departments are trying to expand because we need to, right, we need to have more sub-specialists or expand GME programs to the neighbor islands and so that requires faculty. So we're continuing to work on that
On connecting with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities during the pandemic
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: It was very apparent early on that we're like, no, some of these communities are really, really high risk and we have to figure out a way to make sure that all of these plans and communication plans fit communities who may not have great internet access, or for whom English might not be their first language or second or third language. We've just been really great because we've got such a good team that has a long history of community engagement and has formed that trust with the Pacific Islander and the Native Hawaiian and the Filipino communities and so I think have been able to help guide them. Ultimately the statistics are pretty terrible and the disparities are still, you know, very apparent, but it could have just been so much worse had we not had trusted physicians that grew up here and that the community trusted.
On her hope for Hawaiʻi's health overall
BUENCONSEJO-LUM: Whether it's looking at issues of land, or taxes, food security, you know, all of those things are social determinants of health. And, and, of course, our cost of living and housing, you know, and so, I'm hoping that the medical school can continue to play a role in helping to, you know, positively influence some of those areas. Certainly, we teach our students about it. But we also want to make sure that we're part of the conversation when it's appropriate for us to be part of a conversation and, or that we're guiding others to these important, who really should be there. Really just trying to amplify the voices.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 6, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
