A University of Hawai'i search committee has selected four candidates for the dean's position at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

One candidate, Dr. Kenneth Ward, is chairman of obstetrics and gynecology in the school's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health.

The other candidates are Dr. Neal Cohen of the University of California-San Francisco, Dr. Bruce Jarrell of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Dr. Bonita Stanton of the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

The four are to pay official visits to UH this month.

"The search committee did an excellent job of identifying quality candidates for the dean's position," UH-Manoa interim Chancellor Denise Konan said yesterday.

"I hope that the campus community will take advantage of opportunities to hear what these candidates have to offer," Konan said. "We always welcome feedback and comments from the campus, and that will be important to the process as we make a recommendation to the Board of Regents later this year."

The school of medicine hasn't had a permanent dean since February 2005, when Edwin Cadman took medical leave. Cadman announced a few months later that he wouldn't be returning.