A longtime champion of community-based medical education in Hawaiʻi has been selected to help shape the future of accreditation standards for medical schools across the U.S.
Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, associate dean for academic affairs and chief academic officer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), has been appointed to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Medical Education Senior Leadership Ad Hoc Committee. The national group will play an advisory role in the Liaison Committee on Medical Education’s (LCME) strategic visioning process.
Buenconsejo-Lum has led JABSOM’s own LCME accreditation efforts since 2019 and brings valuable insight to the table.
“I think I was chosen because of the type of medical school we are—community-based—and because of our geography and mission,” she said. “The nature of our geography with the neighbor islands is very unique and different. We want to make sure that whatever recommendations come out of this visioning process can be met by all schools.”
The national committee includes senior medical education leaders from institutions such as Harvard, Boston University, Duke, and UCSF. Buenconsejo-Lum may be one of the few representatives from a community-based school, offering a vital perspective on working with volunteer faculty, managing diverse clinical partnerships, and delivering education across island communities.
She also emphasized JABSOM’s cultural grounding and mission of Attaining Lasting Optimal Health for All (ALOHA). “Our school embraces Indigenous values in medical education. That’s woven throughout our curriculum, our care for communities, our advocacy, our doing things pono.”
Buenconsejo-Lum will begin her three-year term on the committee in August.
