About

 What is a learning community?

Learning communities are intentionally designed, longitudinal, small learning groups of faculty and students.  They are meant to enhance the learning experience during medical school using small group learning, team skill development/reinforcement, and exploration of the many dimensions of care management which can maximize learning and professional growth.

The longitudinal relationship between the students and the mentors is vital for this program and allows the delivery of integrated content (addressing cultural awareness and professionalism, ethics and socioeconomic determinants of health, care team leadership, wellness/resilience, doctor-patient communication under evolving delivery systems, health systems sciences and population health skills, inter-professional team practice, clinical skills, telehealth practice and remote patient monitoring/management, etc.).

Why do we need learning communities?

The 2018 Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi Community Health Needs Assessment for the people and islands of Hawai'i reported our health care system as “lacking in humanity, empathy, and availability” as evidenced by patients’ stories of discrimination, medical mistakes, lack of listening, lack of caring and other negative experiences.

Our goal will be that through learning communities we will help our students be competent, compassionate physicians who are connected to their community.  The topics we will focus on for our learning community curriculum are:

1. Professionalism, Professional Identity formation, Leadership

2. Ethics

3. Wellness and Resiliency

4. Clinical Skills

5. Culture and Community

6. Health Systems Sciences

These topics have been difficult to address effectively through other formats (e.g., classroom lectures) and challenging to show the linkages between the concepts when delivered as standalone topics. The sensitivity of some material requires a bond to first be developed between the learners and their skilled clinician mentors. Learning communities have also been shown to counteract the negative effects of medical training, including burnout, depression, and the erosion of empathy. Coping and adaptability skills are reinforced within the learning communities.

Learning Community Structure

Our Learning communities are divided into 6 main groups called Moku that correspond to the 6 Mokus on the island of Oahu: Waialua, Wai‘anae, ‘Ewa, Kona, Ko‘olaupoko, and Ko‘olauloa.  Each Moku will have two smaller sibling groups: Mauka and Makai.  As a learning community mentor you will be in charge of one of the learning community groups that will have 6-7 students per class (1st-4th year students).