Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 11, 1 November 1991 — Scholarships aid health careers [ARTICLE]

Scholarships aid health careers

Eleven students enrolled in medical schools in Hawai'i and on the mainland have been awarded $725,000 to complete their studies by the Native Hawaiian Professions Scholarship Program. The program is operated by Kamehameha Schools through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Native Hawaiian Health Professions Scholarship program was created to improve primary and preventive care services to Native Hawaiians by increasing the number of Native Hawaiians in health professions. Assessments of Native Hawaiian health needs indicate that Hawaiians have lower !ife expectancy and higher infant mortality rates than other ethnic groups statewide. They also suffer from higher rates of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Hawaiians also participate less in health promotion, screening and referral programs and seek treatment at later stages of illness.

Inaccessibility of health services and the manner in whieh they are provided help account for underutilization. Non-Hawaiian health providers' cultural orientation differs widely. Native Hawaiian Health Professions Scholarship participants must be Native

Hawaiians and residents of Hawai'i. They must be enrolled in an approved health professions training program and eligible for appointment as an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service or as a civilian member of the Federal Civil Service. After completing their training, participants commit to serving Native Hawaiians in federally-designated health care shortage areas in Hawai'i for at least two years.

The 1991-92 scholarship recipients are: Wendy Barnes, Cathy Bell, Lianne Chang, Daniel Garcia, Bradley Hope, Melanie Kim, Malia-Susanne Lee, Miehele Shimizu, Patrice Tim Sing and Donald Wallaee, all at the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine; and Lani Kanehe at George Washington University School of Medicine. Kamehameha Schools provides counseling, retention and other support services to program participants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards and disburses scholarship funds.