Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), has been named the 2013 Physician of the Year by the Hawaiʻi Medical Association. He received the award on October 19 at the Hawaiʻi Medical Association’s gala at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort.
Hedges, an emergency physician, assumed leadership at JABSOM in 2008. During every year of his tenure, U.S. News and World Report has ranked JABSOM as one of the Best Medical Schools in America. For the past nine years in a row, UH medical students have scored above average in U.S. medical licensing exams. In fiscal year 2013, faculty increased their external funding awards by 28 percent, bringing into Hawaiʻi more than $58 million, the second-highest amount among schools at UH Mānoa. Dean Hedges’ ability to collaborate and build relationships is praised by his colleagues within the university and the medical community.
“As the leader of the John A Burns School of Medicine, Dean Jerris Hedges has made immense contributions to Hawaiʻi and has built strong collaborations among health-related units and activities throughout the state,” said Interim UH President David Lassner. “On behalf of the entire UH System, I applaud Jerris’s dedication and commitment to developing first-rate physicians to serve all our islands and his personal compassion and service as a healer and teacher.”
During his tenure, Hedges also increased the class size in the medical program, something medical providers describe as vitally important. He has also helped state leaders grasp the magnitude of a growing physician shortage in Hawaiʻi.
“We thank the Hawaiʻi Medical Association for recognizing Dean Jerris Hedges with its Physician of the Year award,” said UH Mānoa Chancellor Tom Apple. “His steadfast leadership of the John A. Burns School of Medicine transcends the academic rigors of training the next generation of physicians. Besides being an inspiring role model for his students, Dean Hedges is also a dedicated, tireless builder of positive relationships involving JABSOM, the greater medical community and the entire state.”
Go to the John A. Burns School of Medicine’s website for the full story.
