ALUMNI CLASS UPDATE: 2011′s Sara Grimes wins teaching award in her intern year, can’t wait to return home Date: April 18, 2013
Dr. Grimes is pictured with some of her co-residents in Pennsylvania
(Abington, Pa.) Dr. Sara Grimes, a 2011 MD graduate of the University of Hawai`i’s medical school, was named Teacher of the Year as an intern in the OB-GYN residency program at Abington Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania. Dr. Grimes was selected by the medical students for the honor, which goes to the MD resident who most contributes to the medical students’ education during their OB-GYN clerkship.
Now a second year OB-GYN resident at Abington Memorial, Dr. Grimes said the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) Problem-Based Learning curriculum prepared her well for her intern year. “PBL linked learning with teamwork, so that it is easy to incorporate medical student teaching into my daily responsibilities,” said Dr. Grimes.
SAVE THE DATE: 7/27/13 for MD Alumni Reunion Date: October 09, 2012
The countdown to our medical school's 50th anniversary in 2015 continues with our annual MD alumni reunion. Save the date to reconnect with your classmates and alumni from all other MD classes.
It's great fun! For more information, contact Elaine Evans at (808) 692-0991, Elaine.Evans@uhfoundation.org
See a video from the 2012 Reunion!
Ten Points of Excellence at the John A. Burns School of Medicine Date: October 08, 2012
The MD Class of 2016 at White Coat 2012
1-Workforce Training: JABSOM is overwhelmingly the major source of physicians in Hawai`i’s workforce. In 2012, the national Best Doctors in America identified 390 physicians as “Hawai`i’s Best Doctors”—at least 295 of them (75%) are graduates of JABSOM, our post-MD training program (Hawai`i Residency Programs, HRP) and/or faculty who treat patients throughout Hawai`i while teaching our future doctors.
1999's Dr. Bryan Wahl excels at law, too Date: May 30, 2012
Bryan Wahl, MD/JD
Dr. Bryan Wahl is one of the youngest people ever to graduate from the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). Now he is making a name for himself as one of the brightest young attorneys in California, too.
Wahl has been named one of the "Top 20 Attorneys Under the Age of 40" in the state of California by the Daily Journal, a daily legal newspaper based in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Dr. Wahl, a second-generation graduate of JABSOM, is the son of Honolulu anesthesiologist Dr. Wendell Foo (Class of 1976) and Susan Foo. The Daily Journal noted that Wahl entered medical school at the age of 17, graduated with honors four years later and became board-certified in internal medicine at the age 24.
Hardman mentoring award for Dr. Richard Kasuya; Full list of 2012 Awards Date: May 22, 2012
Dr. Kasuya with Dr. George Read
The MDs in the Class of 2012 selected Dr. Richard Kasuya, Associate Dean for Medical Education, to receive the John M. Hardman, MD Award for mentoring in teaching. "The recipient best emulates Dr. Hardman’s passion, grace and devotion to foster the students’ intellectual, professional and personal growth," according to Vice Dean Satoru Izutsu, who announced the awards during the MD Convocation Ceremony on May 13. Dr. George Read congratulated Dr. Kasuya and presented the award on behalf of the students, who watched on from the same stage.
New MDs academically out-scored their U.S. peers, come from the most diverse medical school in America Date: May 21, 2012
New MDs from JABSOM Class of 2012
"In a way, MD stands for Mom and Dad," is how one of our graduates put it, at the John A. Burns School of Medicine's Convocation Ceremony. The 2012 event, celebrating our new physician graduates -- now alumni-- was on Mother's Day, at the University of Hawaii Manoa Kennedy Theater. The new MDs, the Class of 2012, were awarded their degrees on May 12.
JABSOM Alum has key role in history-making surgery Date: May 01, 2012
Dr. Valerie Chock at Stanford's hospital
When the situation is critical you want the best doctors you can get. In the case of a tiny baby with a failing heart the size of a walnut, the best doctors on the case included a graduate of the University of Hawai'i's John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
Valerie Chock, MD, JABSOM Class of 1998, was part of the team at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital when surgeons implanted a pacemaker into the three and a half pound baby within 15 minutes of her birth.
“We knew at anytime, the baby’s heart could give out,” said Dr. Chock.
In this question and answer session with JABSOM, we learn more about the high stress moments surrounding that history-making medical procedure, and how JABSOM prepared Dr. Chock for the challenge.
Mahalo to the physicians who made 2012's MD Career Night a success Date: April 30, 2012
Dr. Alan Lum, Dr. Mary Kay Montgomery and Dr. Kurt Edwards at Career Night
Mahalo to Career Night host Dr. Wendell Foo and all the other physicians who came to the University of Hawai’i's medical school on February 21 to give our students an “insider” perspective of what the life of a doctor is really like.
Alumni Connect with First-Year Students at MD Alumni Mixer Date: July 29, 2011
Dr. Theresa Wee with 1st-year med student Kristin King
There is nothing that revives memories about your own time as a student more vividly than talking to someone a generation later, who is following in your footsteps.This year’s MD Alumni Mixer began a new tradition, bringing the incoming class of MD students face to face with scores of alumni from the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Full of eager anticipation and excitement, the students fanned out among the alumni to learn about the experiences of those who preceded them as medical students at JABSOM.
Conversations bubbled around the room, as the physician alums were asked specific questions contained on “ice breaker” index cards carried by each student.
First-year medical student (MS-1) Kori Matsuura found the woman named on her card in a corner of the room: Vanessa Wong, MD, Class of 1999. After just a few minutes, Matsuura knew Wong had attended the Imi Ho’ola Post-Baccalaureate Program, which prepares qualified students for medical study and that she named one of her two children, Moani, after an Imi classmate. Matsuura also learned Wong is a family physician, who completed her residency at Wahiawa General Hospital and attended high school in Guam.
“What was your fondest memory at JABSOM?” Matsuura gently pressed. “That’s a hard one”, Wong replied. “It was a really, really good time. A lot of good memories,” Wong continued. “After all, I’m still here!” she chuckled. Dr. Wong also serves as an Assistant Professor at the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence.
When Associate Dean for Medical Education Richard Kasuya (Class of 1989) called out numbers for the first in a series of door prizes, a student rushed forward in unbridled excitement to collect a brand new clinical anatomy atlas. In fact, two students came forward. Only one had the winning ticket number. But every MD in the room understood how the thrill of a good anatomy book could cause you to leap before you looked too closely at your ticket.
There were other surprises, too, as the alumni and students mingled enjoying food, and conversation. Theresa Wee, MD, Class of 1979, bumped into MS-1 Kristin King, whom she immediately recognized as her daughter’s roommate from college in Santa Barbara, California.
“My daughter Malia and Kristin were roommates at Westmont College,” Dr. Wee explained. “I had hoped Kristin was going to come to JABSOM, but didn’t know for sure until just now!”
King, in fact, was inspired to become a physician by Dr. Wee. “I wasn’t sure, I thought maybe I wanted to become a Physician Assistant,” said King. “But Dr. Wee kept telling me I could go farther and actually become an MD.”
Dr. Wee chimed in, “I remember we were walking on the beach when we had that conversation.” At that, they hugged each other in happiness.
The MD Alumni Mixer, with its gaggle of brand new medical students and alumni of all ages, was a warm reminder that there is also nothing that makes you feel quite so fulfilled as having a real impact on the lives of those who follow in your footsteps.
Please enjoy the following slideshow from the event.
MAHALO to MD Alumni Gathering Participants Date: July 19, 2010
Alumni gathering July 17 includes workforce update Date: June 08, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010 is the date of the Third annual MD Alumni Gathering. There are events in the afternoon and evening, and spouses are welcome. Here's a peek at the program:
3:00 p.m. on the Kaka'ako Campus:
• Hear the latest on JABSOM
• Discover how JABSOM is addressing Hawai‘i’s physician workforce shortage
• Learn about the entering class
• Meet the first JABSOM Alumni Scholarship recipients
• Find out how to get involved as alumni
4:30 - Pūpū reception - Mingle and reconnect with fellow alums!
5:30 p.m. • Kūlia Grill at JABSOM
Optional
6:00 p.m. Dinner with JABSOM leadership - Let the fun continue! Location: Mangos at The Pacific Club. Cost per person:
Reception: $15 Dinner: $45
Please RSVP by Friday, July 9. Please complete the registration form with your
check made payable to:
UH Foundation, JABSOM Alumni Association Fund and send to: Joanne Ikehara, JABSOM
651 Ilalo St., MEB 223
Honolulu, HI 96813
There is a Special Room Rate Available
at Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Links to various events are on our mainpage at
JABSOM HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL ALUMNI RECEPTION Date: July 28, 2009
ALUMS: Gemie Arakawa, Dr. Carla Nip-Sakamoto, Dr. Ken Arakawa
JABSOM MD alumni in town from as far away as New York gathered on Saturday afternoon, July 18 for the second annual MD alumni reception hosted by the Dean’s Office and the JABSOM Alumni Association. Dean Jerris Hedges briefed alumni on healthcare reform and Dr. Satoru Izutsu, vice dean, gave a snapshot of the incoming MS1 Class Profile.
ALUMNI RECEPTION JULY 18, 2009 Date: June 24, 2009
A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni will gather July 18 for the Annual JABSOM Alumni Reception.
This year, the reception comes during the weekend of the WHITE COAT CEREMONY. The White Coat event is July 17, 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. All MD alumni are invited.
The following day, Saturday, July 18-- the ALUMNI RECEPTION runs from 3:00-6:30 p.m. at the Kaka'ako campus. Plan to attend! All M.D. alumni are welcome. Cost: $30.
You can access on-line registration, parking information, pictures from last year's reception and more with links on the "home" page at http://jabsom.hawaii.edu
ALUMNI RECEPTION A SUCCESS: PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR! Date: August 19, 2008
Dean Jerris Hedges and his wife Susan, with alumni from 2003, 1982, and 1998
Nearly 150 alumni of the John A. Burns School of Medicine attended the first alumni reception to be held at the new campus in Kaka'ako on August 18. Pictured are Dr. Jeff Wong, '03; Dr. Rupa Wong, Susan & Dean Jerris Hedges; Dr. Jeff Akaka, '82; and Dr. Cass Nakasone, '98. Hosted by Dean Hedges and the JABSOM Alumni Association, the event was attended by physician graduates who recalled their days at Manoa when tuition was as low as $160 a semester.
*Click here to see the pictures!
Or click FULL STORY to keep reading
CLASS OF 1983 REUNION A SUCCESS Date: July 10, 2008
Members of the Class of 1983
A quarter century after graduating from the John A. Burns School of Medicine, members of the Class of 1983 toured the new campus at Kaka'ako as part of their 25th Reunion. The class also participated with Dean Jerris Hedges in Continuing Medical Education symposium on workforce development issues. The Telehealth Research Institute's SimTiki Lab Director Dr. Benjamin Berg gave a demonstration of the robotics used by the medical school.
JABSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND THE OFFICE OF THE DEAN INVITE ALL MD GRADUATES TO ALUMNI RECEPTION Date: June 30, 2008
Come meet the Dean, August 18
Dean Jerris Hedges and the John A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni Association invite all MD graduates (including two-year program alumni) to a reception August 18, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., at the Medical Education Building of the Kaka'ako Campus, 651 Ilalo St. The purpose of the event is to give alumni the opportunity to meet Dean Hedges and to get reacquainted with the School and each other. Invitations will be sent in the near future. SAVE THE DATE!!! The event is hosted by the John A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni Association and the Office of the Dean. For additional information, please contact Jeffrie Jones at jeffrie.jones@uhf.hawaii.edu. or call (808) 692-0873.
Two New Directors Lead JABSOM Boosters Date: December 15, 2005
State Rep. Kirk Caldwell and businesswoman Christine Lau are the newest directors of the Friends of the John A. Burns Medical School. They were elected to the Board of Directors at the group’s recent annual meeting.
Rep. Caldwell has been a member of the State House of Representatives since 2002 representing Manoa-Moiliili. He also works as a private attorney and is a 1984 graduate of the UH Richardson Law School.
Lau operates the firm Island Veterinary Care with her husband, Bertram Lau, DVM. Christine Lau served as Co-Chair of the 2004 Punahou Carnival. They are the parents of UH medical student Briana Lau.
The Friends of the Medical School is a non-profit volunteer group that organizes activities in support of the educational and research mission of the School. Attorney Beadie Dawson serves as its President.
