The fall semester is about to begin for students across the University of Hawaiʻi System.
At the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the opening of a new home on Maui this past weekend will help with the goal to boost health care on the neighbor islands.
JABSOM Dean Dr. Sam Shomaker spoke to The Conversation about the medical school's latest news.
The school also just received the good news that it passed accreditation with flying colors. It is said to be the best report in JABSOM's 60-year history.
Interview highlights
On new housing on Maui for medical students during rotations
DR. SAM SHOMAKER: We leased a four-bedroom home on Maui. It's about a mile from Maui Memorial Medical Center, and so this will expand our possibilities on the island of Maui. One of our main goals is to do more training in neighbor island settings, because that's where the physician shortage is the most acute. And our rationale is, if we train and expose our medical students to what it's like to practice in a neighbor island community, then they may well decide to set up shop when they graduate from medical school. So, in the particular case on Maui, this new house will allow us to have more student rotations on Maui. Previously, students who were going to Maui for rotations would have to live with their parents or with a relative. So this gives us much more freedom to offer rotations on Maui to people that don't have family ties there. I think it will be a real shot in the arm for the Maui medical community, because we're hoping that at least some number of these students would eventually want to set up practice on Maui.
On housing medical students in rural communities
SHOMAKER: We face similar challenges on the other neighbor islands as well. Kauaʻi is particularly problematic, and we're trying to really grow our footprint on Kauaʻi. We had the Kauaʻi Medical Training Track, where we educate a cohort of six students in every class, and they spend about a third of their curriculum on the island of Kauaʻi, but it's perennially a problem finding them accommodations and living arrangements. ... The logistics are very important. Not only do the students need a place to live, but they also need transportation. So we ship their cars to whatever island they're doing their rotation on so they can get around. So we make every effort to make it feasible for the students to have a good experience when they are rotating on a neighbor island.
On being reaccredited for another eight years
SHOMAKER: Accreditation is a major institutional commitment. It requires literally thousands of person hours to prepare for, and we started two years in advance, and we were gratified to learn that we only had three citations, which is very unusual. Most schools have upwards of 10 to 15 citations, so three minor citations, they gave us a full eight-year term of accreditation. It was a massive effort, but well worth it, because without accreditation, we can't grant students the MD degree, and we'd basically be out of business. ... It was our most successful accreditation in the school's 60-year history. And it's important because that is a testament to the quality of the education that we provide to our students. Our students are very happy with the educational experience they have at JABSOM, ranging all the way from the curriculum to how we deal with student affairs-type issues. And so the students are our best advertisement for the quality of the school, and I think that came through when they met with the accreditation site visit team.
On federal funding cuts
SHOMAKER: So we did have fairly significant cuts that started happening around three months ago, and we lost around $5 million in grant funding, actually had to reduce people's FTE (full-time equivalents), and in some cases even lay some people off. But by virtue of some litigation that was engaged in by the Attorney General and the Association of American Medical Colleges, those terminations were enjoined by the federal courts, and the government was obliged to reinstate the funding. So those dollars have started flowing back to the school. But this may be merely a temporary reprieve. We're not sure what lies ahead, because a lot of what happens will be determined by the president's federal budget for the next fiscal year.
This story aired on The Conversation on July 29, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
