University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a newly accredited, four-year categorical neurology program (first cohort 2027) built around The Queen's Medical Center, Hawaii's only Level 1 Trauma Center and the tertiary/quaternary referral hub for the entire Pacific Basin, supplemented by Kapiolani Medical Center for dedicated child neurology exposure. The explicit mission centers on serving the neurologically underserved communities of Hawai'i and the Pacific, reflecting a documented statewide neurologist shortage rather than a purely academic-prestige orientation. Research is structured but not central: residents complete a required scholarly project over three years with dedicated funding and elective research time, while faculty pursue clinical trials, health-services and medical-education research, positioning the program as research-supportive rather than research-driven. The PGY-4 year is explicitly designed to prepare residents for either fellowship or independent practice, and elective time on outer-island rural rotations signals a values on residents who can function with autonomy in resource-limited, geographically isolated settings and who are drawn to community-embedded, culturally attentive care ("spirit of aloha") over a narrowly quaternary-academic identity.