MEDIA RELEASE

More than three-fourths of the physicians identified as Hawaii’s “Best Doctors” are alumni and/or faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).

The annual “Best Doctors” list is determined by the doctors themselves, through a survey in which physicians are asked, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer them?”

The Boston-based medical consulting company “Best Doctors, Inc.” compiles the annual list of “America’s Best Doctors.” Hawaii’s list is published by Honolulu Magazine.

Of the 8,000 licensed physicians in Hawaii, 390 made the “Best Doctors” list. At least 295 of those 390 are JABSOM ohana.

“The significance for Hawaii is that the University of Hawaii medical school truly is the single most important contributor to the physician workforce in our state and produces extraordinary doctors,” JABSOM Dean Jerris Hedges said. “We are grateful for the ongoing support of our efforts to provide outstanding patient care and medical education for the people of our state.”

JABSOM students consistently rank above their peers in the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1, and by significant margins. For the last seven years in a row, the school’s students have exceeded the national average, with the most recent JABSOM scores eleven points above the average.

Just two weeks ago, JABSOM conferred degrees on 66 of its most recent MD graduates.

Next month, a new class of 66 students will enter the school, joining the second-, third- and fourth-year students whose medical training continues in classrooms and clinical wards of hospitals and health centers around the state.

The USMLE Step 1 is a national examination all U.S. medical students must pass at the completion of their second year of study, before they are permitted to proceed to clinical training at the bedsides of patients.

Ninety percent of the students admitted into JABSOM are Hawaii residents.

The Class of 2012 included graduates of these public high schools: Mililani, Moanalua (2), Waiakea, Waimea, Hilo High, Pearl City (2), McKinley (2) Roosevelt, Kahuku, Kalani, Kauai High, Keaau High, and public charter school University Lab School (2).

Private schools attended by the Class of 2012 included St. Louis, Punahou, Iolani, Hawaii Prep Academy, Seabury Hall, Kamehameha and Maryknoll.

Eleven members of the class were from California, Minnesota and Canada.

“Best Doctors, Inc.”, a medical consulting company founded by physicians affiliated with the Harvard Medical School, compiles the annual list of “America’s Best Doctors.”

For more information about Best Doctors, Inc., visit: http://bestdoctors.com/us/What-We-Do/For-Physicians/Best-Doctors-in-America-List.aspx