For the Health of a People: The Recruitment and Retention of Native Hawaiian Medical Students at the University of Hawai`i's John A. Burns School of Medicine

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007Pacific Islands StudiesConsidering that Native Hawaiians make up approximately 20 percent of Hawai'i's population, but Native Hawaiians make up only 5 percent of Hawai'i's physicians, it is obvious that there is a deficiency within Hawai'i's medical education system. This paper explores the issue of culturally competent physician workforce development and the current recruitment and retention techniques used by the John A. Burns School of Medicine. In order to discover the true nature and identity of these barriers, twelve Native Hawaiian doctors, medical students, and pre-medical students were interviewed. The narratives of the doctors and students interviewed will be the major method of information presentation. After an analysis of the interview data, solutions such as a formal mentoring program for pre-medical students within the current infrastructure of the medical school to foster the academic, cultural, and professional development of Native Hawaiian medical and pre-medical students will be suggested

Data_Sheet_1_Engaging Community Health Centers to understand their perceptions and interest in longitudinal cohort research on diabetes mellitus in Native Hawaiian communities: Initial insights from the Waimānalo community.docx

IntroductionDespite decades of research on diabetes mellitus (DM) and other health disparities affecting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations, little is known about the disease mechanisms that underlie these health disparities. Ideally, a longitudinal cohort study is one of the best research design tools to examine underlying mechanisms of disease in health disparity conditions such as DM. The study purpose is to understand the perspectives and insights of people (n = 29) living in NHPI communities about conducting longitudinal cohort studies aimed at understanding mechanisms of health disparities in NHPI populations.MethodsAll interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and de-identified into written transcripts for thematic content analysis.ResultsFour major themes emerged: 1) Diabetes and other health disparities is a community priority because these diseases touch nearly everyone; 2) Cohort-type research and its outcomes should extend beyond data collection to include data sharing using a cultural context approach; 3) Cohort-type research can directly benefit everyone, especially youth, through education on new, locally-derived knowledge; 4) A longterm benefit of cohort-type research should be to support “generational change” in the community.DiscussionIn summary, potential “cohort-type research” (a.k.a. longitudinal cohort study designs) was perceived as a worthy endeavor because health disparities, such as DM, affects nearly everyone in the community. Cohort-type research is important to NHPI communities as it holds promise for impacting “generational change” on health and wellbeing through the sharing of new community-derived knowledge.</p