Faculty
Collaboration
Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, MD, FAAFP, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, has overseen JABSOM’s Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation process since 2019. Now she’s on a committee that will help guide the accreditation standards for allopathic medical schools across the nation.
Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum has been selected to serve on the AAMC Medical Education Senior Leadership Ad Hoc Committee to work closely with the LCME Strategic Visioning process.
While Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum is not part of the LCME, this group will play a critical advisory role in shaping how the LCME reviews its current standards and elements of accreditation.
Comprised of senior medical education leaders from across the country, the committee brings together individuals with comprehensive oversight of the entire medical education process, including the resources required to maintain full LCME accreditation.
Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum’s inclusion reflects both her expertise and the unique perspectives JABSOM brings as a community-based medical school that does not own its own hospital.
“I think I was chosen because of the type of medical school we are—community-based— and because of our geography and mission,” said Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum. “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.”
Harvard, Boston University, Duke, and UCSF are some of the medical schools represented in the LCME Strategic Visioning Medical Education Senior Leadership Ad Hoc Committee and Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum may be one of the few representatives from a community-based school, offering an important perspective on volunteer faculty engagement, diverse clinical partnerships, and innovative ways of delivering education across islands.
“Faculty development looks different for us,” she said. “We have to work with many partners across our health systems and community health centers. That kind of collaboration is part of the lens I bring.”
She also emphasizes 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.”
Dr. Buenconsejo-Lum will start working with this committee in the coming weeks and will serve for the next three years.
“I’m honored,” she said. “I'm happy to have a voice and participate, but also to help make sure that Hawaiʻi’s unique strengths and context are not forgotten about.”