Doctors say they come to Hawaii Island for the quality of life, but money concerns show up in the top two tiers of priorities, according to a recently published survey of island clinicians.
“It’s other things that are getting in the way of staying for many physicians,” said Karen Pellegrin, director of continuing/distance education and strategic planning with the Center for Rural Health Science with the University of Hawaii-Hilo College of Pharmacy.
Pellegrin discussed the survey during a Waimea Community Association meeting Thursday evening at the Waimea Middle School cafeteria.
Community support is an issue, Dr. Dana Lee, a Waimea pediatrician, said. When her family moved to Hawaii from Arizona, she made community connections through her children’s swimming and soccer activities. Another doctor recruited had in-laws on Oahu. A third sought the opportunity to move from Los Angeles to Hawaii and quickly became involved in community groups.
“We’re not coming here for the money,” Lee said. “We’ve got to figure out how to attract people for different reasons.”
But money does have an impact on which doctors can move to Hawaii, she added. A new doctor will be saddled with significant debt, Lee said, and won’t be able to afford the size and style of home young doctors may want if they move to Hawaii.
Lee said she was also successful because she had previously owned a business and knew how to manage a practice.
One meeting attendee said her son is studying to become a doctor. Although he was born and raised in Hawaii, he said he was hesitant to return here because he worried he would be on call all the time.
That is an issue, Lee and Pellegrin said. Lee is on call more frequently — every third night and every third weekend — than the average medical resident.
“That is a lifestyle issue,” she said. “However, I can be at the beach at Mauna Kea and be on call at the same time. There aren’t many places in the world you can do that.”
Hawaii needs to reach a “critical mass,” Pellegrin added, in order to be able to recruit more doctors.
A Hawaii/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center study estimated Hawaii Island is short about 33 percent of the doctors it needs, center Assistant Director Kristen Knudson said.
Some rough calculations, based on the population figures North Hawaii Community Hospital says it serves and the national ratio of doctors to residents, shows a shortage in North Hawaii of about 53 physicians, Knudson said.
Recruiting is one way to get doctors to Hawaii, but it’s not the one she believes is the most important.
“I cannot stress enough the importance of encouraging your students to pursue careers in health care,” Knudson said. “They’re the ones that come back.”
Schools should emphasize science and math education, and students should have more opportunities to job shadow with doctors and other health care workers and to volunteer in health care settings.
Meeting facilitator Paul Johnston said a doctor trying to move to Waimea cited the state’s education system, and its reputation for low scores on standardized tests. Good educational opportunities are especially important when younger physicians are being recruited, he added.
Business owners can also help with recruitment and retention, Knudson said, even by offering office space for medical students to use for educational space or finding community based housing for medical students. Waimea will be host to four medical students annually doing training here, she added.
