University Of Hawai'i At Manoa's Department Of Pediatrics Awarded National Training Grant

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Feb 7, 2001

HONOLULU-The Department of Pediatrics of the University of Hawaii JohnA. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is one of six medical schools in thenation to have been awarded The Dyson Initiative - Pediatric Training inthe Community grant. The purpose of the five-year, $2.5 million grant isto educate and train future pediatricians in community-based medicine andadvocacy in order to enhance the health and well-being of children.

The Hawaii Dyson Initiative (HDI) will provide residents of the UH IntegratedPediatric Residency Program (UHIPRP) opportunities to participate in a newlydeveloped training curriculum emphasizing an integrated, community-oriented,family-centered, and culturally sensitive model of care for the childrenof Hawai'i.

Through the HDI, pediatric residents will have community-based experiencesin six core areas: school health; child and adolescent mental health; childwelfare including child abuse and foster care; chronic illness care andchildren with special health care needs; early childhood; and adolescenthealth. Pediatric residents also will have opportunities to serve childrenin rural areas on the Neighbor Islands.

JABSOM faculty members Chris Derauf, M.D. and Louise Iwaishi, M.D, spearheadedthe HDI proposal. The focus of their proposal is to expand community trainingexperiences during residency in areas of community need, and to developtraining partnerships with community-based organizations and others so thatresidents acquire the skills needed to improve and advocate for the healthof the children in their community. The proposal also aims to form linkswith other departments and schools at the University of Hawaii such as theDepartment of Psychiatry, the Center on the Family, and the Schools of Nursingand Social Work.

"In Hawai'i, three of the most pressing health issues for childrenare child abuse and neglect, dental disease, and mental health and behavioraldisorders," said Derauf. "Through the Dyson Initiative, we hopeto not only train our pediatric residents to identify and provide servicesfor children suffering from conditions like these, but to look at theseissues as public health problems requiring community solutions."

According to Raul Rudoy, M.D., chair of the JABSOM Department of Pediatrics,"The HDI will enable our residents to work in the community with existingprograms such as Head Start and the Department of Human Services to helpthem become better pediatricians. Our goal is to create pediatricians whocan care for every aspect of a child's development and who are knowledgeableabout the resources that are available for children and their families withinour community."

"We've learned that there is a real need in the community to identifythe numerous resources that are available to children and their families,"said Iwaishi. "Many times, a child is referred to a program such asZero-to-Three, but there's no continuum of care in terms of making surethat the child receives appropriate services. Often times parents will haveto be resourceful in getting services for their child and that process canbe daunting. We hope the Hawaii Dyson Initiative will result in pediatricianswho are better equipped to address the physical and emotional needs of Hawaii'skeiki."

"The Dyson Foundation funds only the best initiatives, and our Departmentof Pediatrics at the John A. Burns School of Medicine has been honored bybeing selected as one of six Dyson Initiative grantees across the nation.We are very proud to be supported by such a prestigious foundation. Creditmust also be given to those community agencies that have partnered withthe medical school on this including Family Voices, the Hawaii State PrimaryCare Association, Kapi'olani Health, and the Hawai'i State Departments ofHealth, Human Services, and Education. We are also grateful to the physicians,nurses and educators who developed the proposal, especially doctors ChrisDerauf, Louise Iwaishi, Alice Tse and Sharon Taba," said Edward Cadman,M.D., dean of the JABSOM.

The Dyson Initiative - Pediatric Training in the Community is thebrainchild of Anne Dyson, M.D., a New York pediatrician and only daughterof Charles and Margaret Dyson, creators of The Dyson Foundation, a privategrant making organization. The Dyson Foundation has granted more than $15million to support pediatric training in the community. The goal of TheDyson Intiative in Pediatric Training in the Community is to develop a newgeneration of pediatricians with skills and knowledge of community-basedmedicine, advocacy and the capacity to improve the health of all childrenin their communities. Sadly, Dr. Dyson, who also served as president ofThe Dyson Foundation, past away last Fall shortly after the Inaugural Symposiumfor the six grantees.

According to Calvin Sia, M.D., a member of the Dyson Foundation ProfessionalAdvisory Committee and a local practicing pediatrician, "Over 65 institutionswith pediatric residencies in the U.S. competed for this grant. To be selectedas one of the top six programs in the country for community pediatrics trainingis quite an honor and distinction and the University of Hawai'i Departmentof Pediatrics faculty should be congratulated. As we begin the 21st century,child health problems will be focused more on the ambulatory, communitysettings rather than hospitals due to decreased childhood infectious diseasessuch as polio, whooping cough, measles and meningitis, changing physicalenvironment, economic conditions, family structures, and other social psychosocialproblems. The Dyson Initiative - Pediatric Training in the Communitywill help our future pediatricians address these important issues."

The John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) opened in 1967 as a two-yearprogram of basic medical sciences. It became a four-year degree-grantingprogram in 1973. The first class of 62 MD's graduated in 1975 and sincethen nearly 1600 individuals have received their MD degrees from JABSOM.Approximately 60% of practicing physicians in Hawai'i are graduates of theMD program or one of its residency programs. JABSOM's mission is to teachand train high-quality physicians, biomedical scientists, and allied healthworkers for Hawai'i and the Pacific. Its major purpose is to provide anopportunity for a medical education previously unavailable to residentsof Hawai'i and other Pacific nations.