Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine ( JABSOM ) is doing its part to assist. Earlier in July, 77 members of the Class of 2023 marched into their White Coat Ceremony at the McKinley High School auditorium. That’s an all-time record and up from 72 students last year.

The enrollment boost was facilitated by Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi, which announced in June a commitment to expand its role as a medical student teaching hospital, making space and faculty available for third- and fourth-year medical student clinical rotations. Kaiser also donated $800,000 for five, four-year scholarships for members of the new class.

Related UH News story: Kaiser Permanente expands JABSOM partnership, offers 5 scholarships, July 1, 2019

Nearly 90 percent of the incoming students are local: 54 from Oʻahu, five from Hawaiʻi Island, four from Maui and three from Kauaʻi. Out-of-state students come from California, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington State and Canada.

There were 1,980 applicants for the 77 student slots, or more than 25 applicants for each spot.

Doctors from the JABSOM Class of 1969 “cloaked” the new students with the short white coats to be worn in clinical settings on campus and at community hospitals throughout the state.

—By Deborah Manog Dimaya