Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2011 — Students follow pathway to health careers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Students follow pathway to health careers

By David Sing Forty-one high school students statewide were provided opportunities to engage in discussions and have firsthand experience with health career possibilities during a two-week residential program at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. In partnership with the University of Hawai'i lohn A. Burns School of Medicine, UH-Hilo College of Pharmacy, and the UH-Hilo Nursing Department as part of its two-week summer residential program at UH-Hilo, Nā Pua No'eau students worked with faculty from eaeh of these entities to get up close and personal with heahh issues specific to Native Hawaiians. According to Dr. Ming Tim Sing (no relation to the author), a Native Hawaiian medical doctor and a teaching faculty of medical biology at the lohn A. Burns School of Medicine: "The epitome of my day with your kids was this: at the end of our visit, one student eame up to me, gave me a thank-you honi (a Polynesian greeting exchanging the breath of life), and proudly said, 'Aunty, some day my name will be on a lab coat like yours!' ... Beautiful!"

The LOMI, or Learning Opportunities in Medicine Institute, is part of Nā Pua No'eau's initiative to provide a pathway for Native Hawaiian students into the heahh professions. "The LOMI Summer Institute was a huge success," said Nā Pua No 'eau Assistant Director Kinohi Gomes. "It brought together a conglomerate of professionals, educators and practitioners to provide a direct pathway in the medical fields for Native Hawaiian students. Through the many educational opportunities that took plaee during the two-week residential program, student participants were able to learn hands-on about these medical fields while also seeing the relevance of these various fields in their lives, their conununity and in their career exploration." LOMI is a program of Nā Pua No'eau's Sununer Institute, funding for whieh eame from the College Access Challenge Grant Program (CACGP) administered by UH Hawai'i P-20. Nā Pua No'eau, a center for gifted and talented Native Hawaiian youth, is funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. ■ David Sing is the Director of Nā Pua No 'eau.

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EDUGATION

At the UH-Hilo College of Pharmacy, teens Lawakua Joy, left, and lshael Shaw-DeAAello mix compounds to make lotion over a heating element. - Photos Courtesy ofNā Pua No'eau

Students Ho'oleia Kaeo, left, Kiana Perreira-Keawekane, Chalee Batunbacal and lshael Shaw-DeMello measure pulse at different points on an advanced patient simulator known as SimMan.