Laughter and a quick shuffle of chairs fill the air as Tracie Okumura steps to the front of a bright classroom, lifting a model heart. “Who can tell me what this is?” she asks, and nearly every hand goes up.
For Okumura, some of the most meaningful moments in her medical school journey at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补 (JABSOM) happen through its School Health Education Program (SHEP), which sends students into public schools to introduce medicine and teach basic health concepts. For 25 years, the program has reached thousands of students in more than 33 Department of Education middle and high schools across Hawaiʻi.
During a recent visit to Queen’s North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, Okumura and fellow third-year medical students Quan Lac and Aaron Yamasaki led hands-on activities for students, giving them a closer look at clinical skills—from suturing to ultrasound—and also shared insights on the path to becoming a physician.
“We try to make the sessions very interactive,” Okumura said. “They get the chance to kind of dip their toes into medicine and see what it’s like.”
For many in attendance, it may be the first time they’ve met someone close to their own age pursuing a career in healthcare. SHEP‘s outreach focuses on exposing students to medical careers and opportunities that they may not otherwise have access to.
Building essential physician skills
The program also helps medical students strengthen communication skills.
“I’ve used the skills I developed in SHEP almost daily,” Okumura said. “Whether it’s in the clinic or on the hospital wards, you learn how to take medicine and break it down into something more digestible. As I’m talking, I’m looking at people and thinking, ‘Is what I’m saying clicking, or is it not clicking?’”
By teaching others, students deepen their own understanding. Okumura and her classmates said their experience in SHEP was invaluable.
“We’re going to need doctors one day,” she said. “Programs like this help recruit the best of the best and make sure students know these opportunities exist.”
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