So, >> well, I I have a little story. I'm going to say this, but um so a friend a friend of mine, his son uh graduated from Ponoho, went off to got his bachelors and wanted to be a doctor, applied for uh um Medical School. He got rejected. >> He was accepted at Northwestern, which is a very tough school to get in and uh got his degree and today he came back and he's he's he's a physician at Kaiser. But you know these are the kinds of local people that we should the school should be accepting. They do accept a portion of out of state and it's sad that we have these qualified students who are forced to go to the mainland and and get their degree. I mean get their practice and and there and then come back. So this we can do better at Japan.
So I'm sorry questions Senator Hashimoto. >> No I I I think thank you for serving. I think this is a very very important board. I I think you know the physician work um force shortage is severe in the state of Hawaii. I think >> you know I think Jabsum clearly knows my concern with you know some of the retention rates >> of um those who of their graduates. I think we're below 50%. I think you're very very lucky on Kawaii because you have this you know great pipeline. you're going to have some residents, you know, see programs on your island that hopefully will then >> force, you know, allow them to stay after their time doing residency because I think when you have residency >> um, you know, programs, then they're more likely to stay in that community. So, I I hope you can continue expanding.
I hope it's just not your focus won't just be on Kawaii, but you'll look out for the rest of the state because I think, you know, we don't have the unfortunate part is some other places don't have the big funders like I think you're lucky to have on Kauaii, but I think we still have to replicate them. >> I agree. >> Um, and I don't know, I I think we have to take a deep dive. I know that the Jabsum has always told me that they I guess cannot or opposed to residency type from what islands you're from, but I think as a neighbor islander, there needs to be some higher emphasis placed on, hey, if you're a Maui person, you have Maui roots, we we want you to go back to that island. And and that should be what the medical school is for, right?
Is to educate our own who are going to stay. not necessarily we're going to grow the best doctors and then they're going to go off to the mainland and never come back. I don't think that to me is the purpose of Jabsum. And so I hope hope that you can bring that Kawaii perspective because it's that's also you know Dr. Noi knows who she's going to be serving with you. She knows the Maui perspective and I think the neighbor islands are are dealing with a whole different ballgame than what Oahu deals with. So I it's a lot more of a question but I hope that I can get your commitment from you to to continue that focus. U because the pipeline is concerning to me and I think you you are you're definitely part of the solution in my mind. >> Your request is fair and I agree completely that our responsibility is to come up with statewide solutions uh not centralized in any one county and uh you know it is complex and I think we have the right people uh to be able to have the dialogue and to create some action.
We can't just be talking about it. We've got to make things happen. So, >> thank you. Members, anybody else wish she just Thank you for your patient waiting so much. >> Okay, we are on uh GM666. Uh this is for consideration and confirmation uh for the Hawaii Medical Education Council Gubinatorial nominee uh Martina I'm sorry. Yeah, Martina Kamaka for term to expire 6:30 2029. And we have besides Dr. Bring uh Shoemaker Dr. Shoemaker, Samuel Shoemaker not here. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?
Hearing none, we welcome um Miss Kamaka. Welcome. >> Aloha, Kako. Um mahalo for um inviting me here to be um part of this confirmation consideration for my membership, continued membership on this committee. Just want to say aloha to Senator um Kim who's the chair um the vice chair, Senator Kedani and the rest of the committee. I am a family physician um and I um have been on the committee. I represent uh being a physician um from the community. Although you will notice when you read what I submitted that I'm also an educator at Jabsum. Um which puts me in I think a pretty um interesting position to hear both the concerns of our students and our young residents and um as we look at trying to grow our workforce. I um was uh very involved with the founding of the Aoku Naoka, the Association of Native Hawaiian Physicians.
And in that position, I also um get a chance to not only help train but listen to the concerns of our Kaukas that are out, especially in our rural communities trying to serve our people.
So, um, anyway, I'm happy to address any questions that you may have for me today. >> Thank you very much. It's interesting that you served in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for a while. >> Yes, I did. I did my residency there and then I actually was in practice there for a couple of years before coming back home. >> Okay. Well, we're glad that you came back home. Um, also see that you graduate from upper campus kame. I say upper campus because I'm from lower campus. Michelle and I are from lower campus farington high school. So anyway, members, we're open to questions. Senator Hashimoto, >> thank you for for your willingness to serve. I just have a quick question. You know, I think hopefully in your time on this this this um council, you can really emphasize what it took for you to come back to Hawaii, right?
You were practicing on the mainland and what are the elements that are needed to to make sure that we can have physicians return and make it lucrative and I think we need to be talking about that constantly to our students, right? So, so this is something that I'm very interested in. And so I actually had some some discussion with some of the the first year students at at the medical school and I was asking them I was like in your education are you talking about what it takes to be a doctor in Hawaii? You know what are the elements that are needed to make you successful here? And you know the unfortunate part and there were only first years but you know I talked to other people too that that are you know second and third and you know fourth years as well that that is not a part of the curriculum right now right and and I think as a school that you're in theory you're supposed to be serving Hawaii to to grow more doctors I think that needs to be embedded in the curriculum to make sure that we have the best shot of keeping these people here and they they understand what are the elements um that they will have and then we need to understand what are the elements that we need to start to implement to keep some of these medical students here.
So, I hope that you know because you have that unique perspective, you can work on something like that and infuse that into what what you guys are trying to accomplish. But I don't know what I I I don't know what are the elements that you think are are are important or and what are the things that we should be knowing here at the legislature? >> Yeah. So, I think one of the things and that's uh why I'm zooming in today. I'm um actually here in Hilo trying to do recruitment of Hilo students into medicine. So I think one of the really important things we need to do and and you all mentioned it, other people have mentioned it is recruiting students from these communities because they're most likely to return to those communities. They understand the needs. They have that personal emotional connection um and that'll bring them home.
Um, it was interesting that uh, Senator Kim mentioned me being in Lancaster and I have to tell you that I was living pretty comfortably in Lancaster. Um, I had a pretty low cost of living. I was making a very good salary. Um, and I knew when I came home that I was taking a cut in pay, but what brought me home was that um, sense of kana that I had and it was bothering me when I was in Pennsylvania that that I was native Hawaiian, I was female, I was a command school grad. What was I doing on the east coast? I needed to be home taking care of our people. So, I think um, one of the things we can do is make sure they come from connect communities. they're connected to, but also do a good job while they're in at JAMSOUM making sure that they're connected to our community in many ways so that it it so that we can actually um what could I say um h their heart will play a role in some of these decisions um not just not just the economics of it um I do think medical education we really we don't talk about the business of medicine.
I think a lot of times they don't get that until they're in residence. It's interesting. Um recently we've had a little dilemma with um having like a scholarships that students could take but not they didn't quite understand the importance of debt. I think once you're once you're deciding to make your specialty decisions and where you're going to go practice, debt all of a sudden plays a big role. But as a first year and the second year, you're not really thinking what that means to be carrying this big debt and then having to pay what it means to start having to pay it back. Um the the medical curriculum is so full, but definitely the business of medicine is something that we maybe probably should be paying a little more attention to so that um we can have them thinking and planning and prepared um cuz they're Yeah.
Anyway, >> great. Well, thank you. Thanks for your comments and hopefully you guys can work on all that. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay, we are moving on to GM67 and this is for the confirmation for nominee Colleen Ino Wam for a term to expire 6:30 2029. Uh, and anyone else here wishing to testify on GM667 hearing? None. We do have Colleen on Zoom. Colleen, welcome. Thank you. >> Aloha, Colleen. >> Hi. Thank you. As as far as first of all, I just want to say that this has been one of the most uh insightful and uh literally educational meetings I have attended. It's been great to listen to as far as all the other uh board nominations. Um I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be here. This is my renomination to the Hawaii Medical Education Council. I've really enjoyed being as far as the uh or one of the voices for as far as the neighbor islands, the rural areas, um the independent physicians, the um medical organizations, and also just being a physician executive leader and advocate.
So, um again, thank you as far as for allowing me to be here. I'm honored. Uh, Colleen, when you're through serving on this board, would you like to volunteer for any of our boards that we had today? >> Yes. In fact, as far as I was thinking, oh, I'll be on the board of regents. That's very insightful. >> Good. >> Okay. We will look forward to seeing you in several years. And just to let you know, as far as pediatricians are told about the different uh as far as prek programs, but it is up to the prek programs to go ahead and go out to uh keep them up to date as to who they serve and uh as far as who they admit to their prek. So, and and then just to let you know as far as the cancer center and you and Jabson have gone ahead and gone through as far as the whole security uh webinar teaching as far as because of the breach.
So, anyhow, we're trying our best to keep up to date. >> Well, thank you for um volunteering that information. Members are happy that you're listening and we didn't have to ask you those questions. You're proactive.
So members, any questions um for Colleen? Hearing none. See what a great job you did. Your practice. No, >> no problem. >> Well, thank Enjoy the rest of your evening. Thank you for being so patient. >> No problem. Hope to see you again. >> Yes. Maybe for the early board learning um board. >> Okay. uh GM668 and this is for gumator nominee Tammy Hull for a term to expire 6:30 2022. Again, this is for the Y Medical Education Council and uh anyone else wishing to testify? If not, please to have you here, Tammy, in person. Thank you. Um, thank you um, Senator Chair Kim, uh, Vice Chair Kadani, and Senators Fukunaga, Deort, and Hashimoto. I didn't think I would have to testify like this to you in person. I thought I would just come and be educated during the session, but I hear from you.
>> Um, I've um, this is my first nomination for the HMEC. Um, I am uh rather new to GME uh education. I've been at Queens for the past three years as the director of academic affairs and research. Um, prior to Queens, I was a RC employee, okay, >> at the University of Hawaii for 20 years and with um overseeing all the infrastructure grants at JABSUM. So this session today has been very very um enlightening to me and um very interesting. I I I've really enjoyed it. >> So you see the web, everybody's connected somehow in Hawaii, right? >> I I see the web. >> I know. So, um, and you know, part of wanting to serve, not only as my role as at Queens, but a actually as a member of the community born and raised here, it's um the physician shortage is really really I mean it hurt it hits all of us and even as um an employee of Queens, it's hard to get a doctor.
So it it it hits all of us. Some I hear from my friends and family that especially to get a primary care physician, um there are waiting lists up to 6 months to a year and especially for my family on the neighbor island, it even gets worse. So access to physician care would be um you would have to fly to Oahu or um it's hard the waiting is hard and if you have serious health conditions and you know um there is no oncologist available on the big island or on Kauaii then the only access to care would be flying to Honolulu which is really hard on the patients. So, um, since I've been at Queens, we've tried really hard to open up some new residency and fellowship programs, um, to expand our, uh, residency and fellowship programs that are available to, um, our, you know, our students who are graduating.
Um a lot of our students who graduate from JABSUM or even from um the continent end up going away because we don't have the residency and fellowship programs here in on in the state. They have no choice but to look for other programs to go to. So that's um of big concern. And um right now I'm working on a family medicine program on the Big Island in at North Hawaii which is very dear to my heart.
So but um thank you for letting me volunteer on the HMAC um committee and um I ask if there's any questions I'd be happy to try to address. Well, we want to thank you for being willing to serve. Um, and it's good to have first perspective, which is what you bring to this board. Um, and you know, just listening to you as to how do we, you know, we talk about um, putting out more students and doctors from Japson, but then again, what are we doing as far as the residency programs? So, that has to come as well, right? Just put to the school and then they have to go away for residency. Similarly to the um um what is that the pharmacy school on the big island they have to do the residence on in Honolulu or there was not enough on the big island.