December 1996
This is the inaugural newsletter!

The Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence (NHCOE) at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) began in 1991 funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The creation of the NHCOE allowed the consolidation of over 25 years of program efforts for minorities in medicine into a coordinated, comprehensive effort to increase the number of Native Hawaiians in medicine.

In addition to being the director of the NHCOE, Dr. Takemoto-Gentile is also a faculty member of JABSOM and the chair of the Family Practice and Community Health Department. He is both a former Imi Ho`ola student and a graduate of JABSOM.

His vision for the NHCOE looks toward, initially, building a network of Native Hawaiian providers who will serve as recruiters to JABSOM, as role models, as teachers and as caretakers of Native Hawaiian communities. Once the pool of Native Hawaiian physicians grows, Dr. Takemoto-Gentile believes we will have the people power to seriously address the health issues of the Native Hawaiian Communities.

Please join us in welcoming the new Native Hawaiian first year medical students: Desi Barroga, Christinia Kealoha, Lonnie Lin, Richard Marn, Louis Pau, Natalie Relles, Ann Terai, and Lori-Anne Tungpalan.

Kay Bauman and Curtis Takemoto-Gentile hosted a Faculty Development Workshop on Cross Cultural Medicine on September 19, 1996. The workshop presenters were Dr. Nicole Apoliona, Dr. Peter Donnelly, Dr. Seiji Yamada and Dr. Neal Palafox who described the morbidity and mortality of Native Hawaiians, Samoans and Filipinos in the context of Western Medicine.

The recruitment calendar was busy for Kaloa Robinson and `Iwalani Else with 11 trips made to high schools and state-wide college fairs. Highlights were visits to Kamehameha Schools (77 students attended the medicine session!), Moloka`i and McKinley High Schools, and Pahoa, Waiakea and Hilo High Schools on the Big Island.

We welcome the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) as the NHCOE's new partner. Our Hilo Recruitment Coordinator, Kaloa, is supported, in part, by OHA.

Dr. Little is concluding her Fall semester course in Public Speaking and Debate for the Imi Ho`ola class by hosting an Oxford Cross-Examination debate for interested JABSOM faculty and students.

Dr. Little requests copies of commendatory evaluations from third and forth year Native Hawaiian students. We frequently hear of such accolades and would like copies for our files!

Imi Ho`ola is a post-baccalaureate program providing educational opportunities for individuals whose applications to medical school were rejected. Although Imi Ho`ola is not limited to persons of Hawaiian, Filipino, Samoan, Chamorro and Micronesian descent, a large number of these students in the past have demonstrated that they are from a disadvantaged background. Over the past 23 years, there have been 276 graduates of the Imi Ho`ola Program. Of those, 148 have gone on to medical school while 56 entered into the health professions.

Beginning in 1996, the program changed its admission requriements. Each school year, ten students are selected to participate in the 12 month program and, upon successful completion, will matriculate the following year into JASCOM. The curriculum emphasizes the integration of concepts and principles in the sciences and humanities and further develops communication and learning skills.

For more information, contact Nanette Judd or Agnes Malate at (808) 956-3466.