University of Hawaii Program

Program Identity & Fit

The University of Hawaii Internal Medicine Residency Program is a university-based categorical program built around General Internal Medicine and Ambulatory Care, training residents across a tertiary Level 1 trauma center (Queen's Medical Center), a community/geriatric-focused hospital (Kuakini), a VA system, and safety-net ambulatory sites (Queen Emma Clinics, Waikiki Health Center) that serve Native Hawaiian and Pacific Rim populations with complex psychosocial needs. Graduate outcomes show a genuine split identity: roughly half of recent categorical grads enter fellowship (notably pulmonary/critical care, cardiology, nephrology, hematology/oncology) at strong mainland academic centers, while a substantial contingent go directly into hospitalist and primary care/private practice roles in Hawaii and the broader Pacific, reflecting the program's dual Clinician-Educator and Primary Care longitudinal pathways. Research is structurally supported (dedicated research elective, funding, awards, resident scholarly project requirement) but oriented toward enabling fellowship competitiveness and educational scholarship rather than functioning as the program's core identity. The program explicitly values residents suited to a multicultural "'ohana" team culture, community integration in the Pacific, and flexibility across university, community, and rural/neighbor-island care models.