Kaka'ako site gets big thumbs up
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer
For the past few months their classes have been held in borrowed space on other campuses, in hospital conference rooms and even in a morgue, so University of Hawai'i-Manoa medical students are relieved to just have a space they can call home.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
The fact that it's a brand-new environmentally friendly building with state-of-the-art equipment makes the move that much sweeter.
Construction worker George Posiulai, left, gets some help carrying away the fencing around the UH Medical School as students line up to get their first look at the school's new education building, the first to open at the $150 million medical complex in Kaka'ako.
About 164 students gathered outside the new John A. Burns School of Medicine yesterday for the 8 a.m. opening, waiting for their first glimpse inside the new education building, which until then had been shielded by wire fencing. The education building is the first to open in the $150 million medical complex in Kaka'ako.
"It's something that we've needed for a really long time," said first-year student Janine Doneza.
It wasn't just that the medical school needed an upgrade, Doneza pointed out. After being hit hard by the flooding in Manoa last fall, it needed a new building. "It was really run down, and especially after the flood it was a lot worse," she said.
The new campus is a change from the cramped quarters on the Manoa campus. High-tech patient rooms will allow students even more time for hands-on simulation with human volunteers or sophisticated mannequins. The rooms are equipped with discreet video cameras that will allow faculty to observe students from another room, and will let students review their work afterward.
Matthew Taylor, 24, said the move to Kaka'ako would mean he could no longer walk or bike to school from his Manoa Valley home, but he was happy that the school will now have a home base. "I think it's going to be a good opportunity and it will provide us with more state-of-the-art facilities," he said.
After having to attend class at Tokai University, Kapi'olani Community College, St. Francis Hospital and other locations, "we'll appreciate it even more," he said.
For students near the end of their second year, the move was exciting even though they won't be spending much time on the campus as they move into hospital rotations.
"We'll be happy with whatever time we get here," said Melina Yeaneh.
Her classmate Jennifer Marrone added that the features at the new school, like the acquisition of the former Hawai'i Medical Library materials, make it particularly attractive. "Having the library here will be wonderful," she said.
Leah Nakamura, one of the lucky few to have an advance tour of the building, gushed over the new facilities. "We're so lucky to have it," she said. "It's really amazing; mind-blowing."
The only potential problems are the gorgeous views of the ocean and Diamond Head, which may make it hard to concentrate, students joked.
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.
