Good news for the John A. Burns School of Medicine and its geriatrics medicine program.
It’s ranked in the top 20 in the country by "U.S. News and World Report."
Seniors and their families will be glad to hear about the graduate program being ranked 16th in the country. It means better health care for our kupuna.
What sets the UH program apart from others in the country?
"I think it's because we have very strong programs in education, in clinical service, in community service as well as in research,” said Dr. Kamal Masaki.
Dr. Patricia Blanchette founded the geriatrics department in 1984.
But she stressed it's impact is felt throughout the medical school.
"It's important for us, for example train every medical student at the John A. Burns School of Medicine so that they're better at caring for older people when they finish their training,” said Dr. Patricia Blanchette.
In 2005, the Geriatrics Department created a Palliative care division.
"Important for us to train them in what we call palliative medicine. What that means is caring for people with chronic conditions at any age so that they're much more comfortable throughout their lives,” said Dr. Blanchette.
Hawaii has by far the largest senior population per capita in the country, which means doctors trained in geriatric medicine will be in demand for quite some time.
"That's certainly true and what we find is that most elderly are more interested in quality of life. So adding life to their years rather than adding more years to their life,” said Dr. Masaki.
Every medical student studies some geriatric medicine.
But the school trains a dozen Fellows each year who have completed their residency training and are specializing in geriatrics.
Placing in the top 20 graduate programs around the country will pay off down the road for the medical school.
