{"id":218128,"date":"2025-06-30T14:18:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T00:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=218128"},"modified":"2025-06-30T14:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T00:26:47","slug":"jabsom-erin-evangelista-recognized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/30\/jabsom-erin-evangelista-recognized\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning medical student sparks rural health push on Kaua\u02bbi"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"a
Erin Evangelista receives her award from JABSOM<\/abbr> Dean Sam Shoemaker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Erin Evangelista\u2019s lifelong dedication to improving rural health was recognized with the Excellence in Public Health Award from the U.S.<\/abbr> Public Health Service, honoring her impactful contributions to rural healthcare. Now a 4th-year medical student at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>), Evangelista has been passionate about addressing healthcare disparities in rural communities long before starting medical school.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, it was kind of like a full circle moment,” Evangelista said. As part of JABSOM<\/abbr>\u2019s inaugural Kauaʻi<\/span> Medical Training Track<\/a>, she now trains and lives on the Garden Isle. The immersive program has deepened her understanding of rural healthcare needs.<\/p>\n

Early experiences inspire medical journey<\/h2>\n

Evangelista\u2019s passion for rural communities stems from personal experience. After spending her early childhood in California, Evangelista moved to the Philippines at age 12, where she witnessed firsthand the lack of health education and career exposure.<\/p>\n

“We didn\u2019t really know what it meant to be a physician or what it meant to be a nurse,” she said.
\nBefore JABSOM<\/abbr>, Evangelista served with the U.S.<\/abbr> Public Health Service in South Dakota, working on Indian Health Reservations. With an engineering background, she approached rural health from an infrastructure standpoint, gaining a unique perspective on healthcare access.<\/p>\n

Strengthening health education on Kauaʻi<\/span><\/h2>\n

Since beginning the Kauaʻi<\/span> Medical Training Track in 2022, Evangelista noticed limitations in care available to Kauaʻi<\/span> residents. These insights led her to launch the Kauaʻi<\/span> Health Education Initiative, aimed at strengthening health education and career exposure for local high school students.<\/p>\n

“I felt like I didn\u2019t get a good exposure to what it meant to be healthy,” she said. “A lot of the students [and faculty] were saying, ‘Oh, we don\u2019t have a lot of the opportunities that the Oʻahu<\/span> students have.’”<\/p>\n

Evangelista hopes to remain on Kauaʻi<\/span> as an OB\/GYN<\/abbr> after residency. “I love the community on Kauaʻi<\/span>. Everything and everybody is so tight-knit,” she said. “It\u2019s really exciting to see where Kauaʻi<\/span>\u2019s health resources and public health, in general, is going to go.”<\/p>\n

Read more at JABSOM<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erin Evangelista is tackling healthcare gaps on Kaua\u02bbi through education and mentorship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":218131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[165,31,241,9],"class_list":["post-218128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-health","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-public-health","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t