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University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine

University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine

Honolulu, HI / School Detail
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School Detail Interview Feedback Secondary Essays
APPLICATION FEE
$150
Tuition In State
$36,672
Tuition Out of State
$71,328
Average GPA
3.79
AVERAGE MCAT
512

School Overview

Degrees
MD
Ownership
Public Non-Profit
Program Length
4 years
Total Enrollment
66
Founding Year
1965
Accreditation Year
1966
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SDN Insights

Cost of Attendance: $340,178
Estimate repayment

Estimated loan burden for JABSOM using 4 years of in-state tuition, $1,500 annual fees, $3,000 monthly living expenses, government-derived local cost-of-living adjustment, $1,000 loan fees, and an 8.5% interest assumption.

Cost of Living: Above national average cost of living

Honolulu, HI is about 1.11x higher than the national average for cost of living. In the debt estimate, the government-derived local cost adjustment raises the living allowance from $3,000 to about $3,330 per month, mainly reflecting rent, food, transportation, and day-to-day expenses. Compare this with your own housing plan before treating it as exact.

Environment: Urban

Situated in a moderately accessible neighborhood, JABSOM offers a mix of walking and biking options. Students may find that many daily needs are reachable without a car, though longer trips still benefit from alternative transportation.

Interview Feedback

Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 26% of interviews, indicating it is moderately regarded. They found the interview generally impressive with a low stress level and felt they did okay.

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Secondary Essays for JABSOM

1. Motivation and Fit
Describe how your background and unique lived experiences will contribute to JABSOM's mission.
2. Motivation and Fit
Describe your most important volunteer work and why it was meaningful.
3. Motivation and Fit
Describe any personal connection to JABSOM and/or Hawaii and the Pacific that you may have. If not, explain why you have chosen to apply to JABSOM.
4. Personal Experiences and Challenges
A) Resilience is defined as "the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, particularly through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and...
5. Personal Experiences and Challenges
Describe a personal experience that demonstrated your resilience. What did you learn from that experience that may help you manage similar situations in the future?
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About the School

JABSOM`s mission is to teach and train high quality physicians, biomedical students, and allied health professionals for Hawai`i and the Pacific, and to conduct both clinical and basic research in areas of specific interest to our community and region. JABSOM is the most culturally and ethnically diverse medical school in the country and its student body mirrors the rich diversity of the state`s population.

Curriculum

The MD Program is comprised of five curricular units in the first two years. There are also opportunities for electives in Units 2-5, Primary Care and Community Medicine experiences, and Board Review elective for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. Clinical clerkships take in the third and fourth years, but there is less of a division between the preclinical and clinical parts of the MD Program than in more traditional schools. Patient contact and clinical skills development start in Unit 1 and increase throughout the program. The scientific background for understanding patients` problems, while more intensely studied in earlier units, continues into the third and fourth year programs as it is relevant to the care of any patient in any clinical situation.

Facilities

Centers and Programs: Institute for Biogenesis Research, Ecology and Health Group, Sports Medicine and Human Performance, Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence, Imi Ho`ola Post-Baccalaureate Program (12-month post-college program for disadvantaged students), International Health, Center on Aging, Asia-Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hawai`i AIDS Clinical Trial Unit, Telehealth Research Institute, Clinical Research Center, Pacific Center for Early Human Development, and Pacific Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research

Last Updated: Oct 01, 2025