It would not be an unusual sight to see a first-year medical student in a hospital. But after an acute attack of right lower abdominal pain, Vera Ong, a 2024 MD candidate, found herself hooked up to an IV pole and confined to a hospital bed while worrying about doing well on her final exams less than a week away. Ong, an out-of-state student with her family miles away in California, found comfort in forming a bond with her hospital roommate, “Mrs. T,” who could not have any visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This sour-turned-sweet experience inspired Ong to create Mauli, the first art and literary journal at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), which launched its inaugural issue in July 2021. The name, Mauli, is a Hawaiian word that embodies ideas of growth, connection to humanity and a bridge between the fields of science and humanities.
“I acknowledged the fear and beauty of life’s unpredictability and how we ultimately have the power to tell our own stories through art and writing,” Ong said. “I felt called to help spark a humanities journal to facilitate a platform for self-expression.”
A student-led journal
Ong pitched her idea to her classmates and Shannon Hirose-Wong, JABSOM’s director of student well-being and mental health support, who became the journal’s faculty advisor. In December 2020, they began collecting written and visual arts pieces from medical students, faculty, staff, alumni and other JABSOM affiliates.
The publication was a student-led effort by MD 2024 candidates: Kelli Kokame and Kyung Moo Kim helped in brainstorming the structure of Mauli while Brianna-Marie Hollister and Melia Takakusagi served as writing editors. Rae Ruixue Zhang and Richard Ho served as the visual arts and layout editors, respectively. Amity Tran served as the journal’s graphic designer.
Ong added, “We also couldn’t have done this without the input and help of Dr. Malia Purdy (who bestowed the group with the journal’s name, Mauli), Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, Mr. Arnold Kameda, Ms. Sandy Liu and the JABSOM communications team. Hopefully Mauli will continue for years ahead, encouraging all those in the JABSOM family to keep creating and to live life in color, love and passion.”
Mauli is currently taking submissions for its second issue, up through December 15, 2021.
Go to the JABSOM website to read more, including Ong’s excerpt on “My First Clinical Experience as a Medical Student.”
This effort is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.
—By Deborah Manog Dimaya
