I attended the John A. Burns School of Medicine and graduated in 2017. I received the Dean’s Certificate of Distinction in Social Justice and Native Hawaiian Health. I am also a member of both the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Below are some items which should be helpful to medical students looking to succeed in medical school and beyond! (Most of the information pertains to medical students in Hawai’i.)
- Family Medicine Medical Student Experience (password protected)
- Conferences to Attend
- American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference
- Occurs at the end of July every summer. Usually occurs in Kansas City, MO, where the AAFP is located. Lots of hands on sessions (cost $), networking events, and the majority of Family Medicine residency programs from across the country have tables there.
- Recommended to attend as a MS3 or MS4.
- The Family Medicine Leads Scholarship is worth applying for and will off set costs.
- The Hawai’i Academy of Family Physicians also generally will assist medical students attendees with costs.
- Hawai’i Academy of Family Physicians Annual Update
- Occurs in February/March of every year. Generally it is held in Honolulu. The focus of the conference is primary on CME for community Family Medicine physicians but it serves as a good networking event for medical students.
- Residents can submit oral case presentations and research presentations for financial prizes!
- Currently there is NOT a medical student research/case presentation session, but if sufficient interest exists, this could be implemented.
- Hawai’i/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center Annual Workforce Summit
- Occurs in Fall every year. Generally held in Honolulu. Focus of the conference is on CME-type educational sessions for physicians, nurses, public health experts, and students.
- Annual poster presentation with categories for medical students, pre-medical students, and residents which includes a financial prize!
- Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors’ Congress Semi-Annual Conference
- Highly, highly recommended if you are passionate about indigenous health and improving your understanding of various health issues faced by indigenous groups throughout the Pacific.
- Every 2 years the conference is hosted by a different indigenous group from the Pacific.
- Poster sessions and oral presentations are available for medical students and residents but require one of the presenters to be from an indigenous group in order to present at the conference.
- Wilderness Medical Society Conferences – Winter and Summer
- Highly recommended based on interesting material that isn’t part of the general medical school curriculum, awesome conference locations, and lots of hands on sessions.
- Poster presentations for medical students and residents.
- JABSOM Biomedical Sciences and Health Disparities Annual Symposium
- Hosted in the spring of every year at JABSOM.
- Poster presentations are available for medical students, pre-medical students, and residents.
- American Academy of Family Physicians’ Family Medicine Experience (FMX) Annual Conference
- Amazing conference which rotates around the country.
- Primary focus of the conference is on CME for Family Medicine physicians but the sessions would be great for medical students as well!
- Cost is somewhat prohibitive for medical students, but it is definitely worthwhile if you can somehow attend!
- American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference
- How To Do Research
- Find a Mentor
- Join the Research Interest Group, a speciality interest group, or talk to your medical school lecturers! I am also available to help.
- All academic-types need to publish in order to get promoted so they are all eager to find a friendly medical student to do research with (aka have you do the brunt of the work)
- Literature Review
- Use the JABSOM Health Science Library, Google Scholar, and even Google to look for items related to your area of interest
- Figure out if what you are interested in has been studied before, if yes, make sure your area of interest or study idea is NEW and DOABLE
- NEW: Hawai’i is awesome for research in that application of previous study protocols to our population is often ‘new’ since our population is so different than elsewhere. The Hawai’i Journal of Health and Social Welfare is also keen to publish Hawai’i related articles!
- DOABLE: Ask yourself if you have the time to complete the project during the remainder of your training. MS1-2 is ideal time for research projects as MS3 year has little/no free time. MS4 is busy with sub-internships and traveling for interviews, which also makes it difficult to complete a research project.
- IRB
- The UH Manoa Human Studies website details the required CITI trainings needed for you to conduct research as well as the type of IRB needed based on the type of research you want to do
- You will need a UH FACULTY MEMBER to sponsor the IRB, this can be anyone with a title like “assistant professor, assistant clinical professor, etc.)
- Information about consent forms can be found on the UH Manoa Human Studies website
- Conduct the Study
- Google Forms is a great way to collect data online
- Manuscript Drafting
- Google Docs is a great way to allow multiple users to edit a document at once; however, it does not play nicely with Zotero and other bibliography products
- Zotero is an excellent, FREE, bibliography manager than has plug-ins for Microsoft Word and Web Browsers
- Before starting to draft your manuscript, find a journal you plan to submit the article to and follow their manuscript requirements (e.g. what font, spacing, how to cite references, etc.)
- Manuscript Submission
- It can take MONTHS to hear back from some journals. Hold tight!
- Manuscript Revision
- This can also take MONTHS of back and forth with editors. Usual turnaround time for revisions is one month.
- Publication!
- Congratulations!
- Find a Mentor
Nash A.K. Witten, MD 