University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine Admission
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns
School of Medicine Undergraduate Program
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine Application

The Facts

The University of Hawaii is a rather large, public institution with various located throughout the state of Hawaii. This particular campus is located in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 12,000 students. The university's John A. Burns School of Medicine, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 264 graduate medical students. The average age of enrollment is around 25, and it is fairly rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its wonderful research programs and facilities, as well as for its emphasis on community and public health. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school offers joint degrees in the MD/MPH, and the MD/PhD in the areas of cell and molecular biology, public health, tropical medicine, as well as medical microbiology.

Admission to the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 1,264 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 180 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 62 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 9.9 in Biology, 9.4 in Physics, and 9.0 in Verbal, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.6. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and are able to take advantage of the school's early application program if they so choose.

The university's Burns School of Medicine has about 458 faculty members, all of whom come from very diverse medical and academic backgrounds. The school also boasts a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about a 1:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the university's School of Medicine often go on to be accepted to some of the nation's most prestigious and competitive residency programs, and most frequently specialize in the areas of transitional medicine, internal medicine, ob/gyn, orthopedics, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, as well as family practice.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical training including 7 weeks of surgery, 7 weeks of family medicine, 7 weeks of ob/gyn, 7 weeks of pediatrics, 7 weeks of psychiatry, 11 weeks of internal medicine, as well as a longitudinal clerkship in which students spend a year in a community-based, ambulatory care experience. Students complete their clinical clerkships at affiliated facilities including Queen's Medical Center, Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, St. Francis Medical Center, Tripler Army Medical Center, Hilo Family Medical Center, Hilo Medical Center, as well as the Kaiser Medical Center.

What's Good

"You get a huge amount of hands-on experience and patient-contact."

"The faculty here really are enthusiastic about sharing their advice and knowledge with you."

"Students tend to be quite laid back and very supportive of one another."

What's Bad

"There is never enough on campus graduate housing, and it can be difficult to find anything affordable near campus."

"The administration can be difficult to get a hold of at times."

"If you are an out-of-state student, the school is quite expensive."

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