Medical school hotline: A History of the University of Hawai'i Postgraduate Medical Education Program at Okinawa Chubu Hospital, 1966-2012.

The University of Hawai'i (UH) has been collaborating with Okinawa Prefectural Chubu Hospital for over 46 years. This collaboration started as a post-World War II effort to increase the physician workforce. At the initiation of the US Army and State Department, the University of Hawai'i was recruited, in cooperation with the government of the Ryukyus and USCAR, to initiate a US style postgraduate clinical training program. The Postgraduate Medical Training Program of University of Hawai'i at Okinawa Chubu Hospital introduced a style of training similar to that in the US by offering a rotating internship. The initial contract had UH establish and run the Postgraduate Medical Training Program of University of Hawaii at Okinawa Central Hospital. After Okinawa's reversion to Japan, under a new contract, UH physicians participated as consultants by providing lectures at "grand rounds" and guidance to faculty, staff, and students. To date, 895 physicians have completed the University of Hawai'i Postgraduate Medical Training Program with 74 currently training. Approximately 662 (74%) of the trainees have remained in Okinawa Prefecture to practice medicine. As a result, the program has enhanced the physician workforce for the islands of Okinawa and neighbor archipelagos of Miyako and Yaeyama Islands.