What began as a weeklong summer experience at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补’蝉 (JABSOM) turned into something much bigger for Hawaii Baptist Academy student Callie Kawaguchi.
After attending JABSOM’蝉 last summer, an immersive introduction to medical school, Kawaguchi helped organize the Convention for Future Medical Leaders, held February 28, at Hawaii Baptist Academy. The event brought nearly 100 high school students from across Hawaiʻi together to .
First medical school experience
“They really catered to making sure that we learned about med school,” Kawaguchi said of her MDT experience. “No one had ever told me what it really was about. I found learning about medical school valuable.”
The weeklong MDT program introduces high school students to problem-based learning, anatomy demonstrations, clinical skills labs, simulated patient encounters and computerized manikin simulations. Participants learn to recognize symptoms of illnesses common in Hawaiʻi and practice basic clinical skills such as taking vital signs, listening to heart and lung sounds and interviewing patients.
“I was really curious,” Kawaguchi said. “And I think I really got what they were talking about.”
Inspiring future healthcare leaders
Inspired by the experience, Kawaguchi created the Convention for Future Medical Leaders to help other students learn about the medical field.
The goal of the MDT program is to inspire an interest in learning about healthcare.
—Damon Sakai
“There have been career days just for your own high school,” she said. “But I wanted a convention just for medical stuff and for high schoolers around the island.”
JABSOM faculty, staff and students participated in the event, including MDT Director Damon Sakai, who spoke about the importance of early exposure to health careers.
“The goal of the MDT program is to inspire an interest in learning about healthcare,” Sakai said. “Hawaiʻi continues to face a significant healthcare workforce shortage, so early exposure programs like MDT are increasingly important.”
Registration for summer program
Registration for the opens on March 23. The program runs July 6–10, at JABSOM in Kakaʻako and is open to high school students in grades 10–12 who are at least 16 years old.
“There’蝉 currently a medical worker shortage in Hawaiʻi,” Kawaguchi said. “And I wanted other people to get a little closer to what they want to do in the future.”
.