Kara Wong Ramsey

Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Kara Wong Ramsey is a kanaka ‘oiwi physician, educator, and neonatologist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa whose teaching is grounded in kuleana (responsibility), service, and experiential learning. As a clinician in the neonatal intensive care unit, she educates learners across the full continuum of medical training; from pre-medical students to fellows, practicing physicians, and allied health professionals; while also advancing public health education through innovative outreach, including nationally recognized social media initiatives.

Guided by the principle ma ka hana ka ʻike (“through doing, one learns”), Dr. Wong Ramsey emphasizes hands-on, patient-centered teaching that fosters clinical excellence, critical thinking, and resilience. She is a skilled leader in simulation-based education, creating safe, collaborative environments where trainees develop confidence in high-stakes decision-making and complex procedures. Known for her compassionate mentorship and approachable teaching style, she cultivates trust, curiosity, and professional growth among her learners.

In addition to her clinical teaching, Dr. Wong Ramsey is an accomplished medical education leader and innovator. As Pediatric Clerkship Director, she has developed award-winning curricula and nationally recognized teaching innovations, contributing to curriculum design, accreditation efforts, and faculty development. Her work has been widely adopted and celebrated for its impact on medical education. Through her dedication to teaching, mentorship, and community engagement, she is shaping the next generation of physicians to deliver thoughtful, culturally grounded, and high-quality care.

“Best preceptor ever! Amazing teacher and provided various learning opportunities from reviewing write-ups/topics in peds to seeing patients in the NICU. Created a safe learning environment and encouraged critical thinking of clinical data. Very available and took over an hour of her schedule each meeting for teaching. Provided regular and mid/end-clerkship constructive feedback. Would be honored to become the type of MD Dr. Wong-Ramsey is.”

“Dr. Wong Ramsey was a wonderful PBL tutor to have the opportunity to learn from in MD7. She was very friendly and encouraging from the beginning which helped create an open and safe learning environment where we felt comfortable speaking up and sharing our thoughts and questions. I think one of her strengths as a tutor was being able to find the balance between providing encouragement and pushing us to think deeper and go a step further. For example, it was very helpful during the later sessions when she challenged us to continue adapting and improving our oral case presentations, as I’m sure it will help prepare us better for MS3 year and beyond. Additionally, the clinical pearls from her own experiences that she shared with us as we went through the cases were incredibly helpful. I appreciated that she didn’t only share her experiences when we were discussing specifically pediatric or newborn cases, but she even made connections to concepts in our geriatric cases. Additionally, it was so great how willing Dr. Wong Ramsey was to get involved in the role playing scenarios, which encouraged us students to role play as well. Overall, Dr. Wong Ramsey was a great tutor who I learned a lot from. Thank you so much for volunteering time out of your busy schedule to help us learn!”