• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Chaminade University

Chaminade University

  • VISIT
  • APPLY
  • GIVE
  • STUDENTS
  • PARENTS
  • ALUMNI
  • FACULTY/STAFF
  • CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
  • Admissions
    • Admissions Home
    • First-Year Students
    • Transfer Students
    • Graduate Students
    • Online Students
    • Military Students
    • Experiential Honors Program
    • Emerging Scholars Pre-College Program
  • Tuition & Aid
    • Financial Aid Home
    • Tuition & Expenses
    • Scholarships
    • $5,000 Graduate Scholarship
    • Net Price Calculator
  • Academics
    • Academics Home
    • Academic Programs
    • Advising & Career Development
    • Undergraduate Research
    • Service-Learning
    • Tutoring Services
    • Academic Course Catalog
    • Registrar
    • Sullivan Family Library
  • Student Life
    • About Student Life
    • Silversword Athletics
    • Student Activities and Leadership
    • Residence Life
    • Health & Wellness
    • Campus Ministry
    • Marianist Leadership Center
    • Campus Security
    • Transportation
    • Dining Services
    • Bookstore
  • About
    • Chaminade University News
    • Our Story
    • Leadership
    • Office of Advancement
    • Mission & Rector
    • Montessori Laboratory School
    • Facts & Figures
    • Accreditation & Memberships
Search
×

Search this web site

A Doctor in the Making

August 9, 2019 by University Communications & Marketing

Growing up in a big family, Hi‘ilei Ishii-Chaves developed a knack for taking care of people. 

A Doctor in the Making | Hi'ilei Ishii-Chaves

“I’ve had to take care of a lot of my siblings,” says Ishii-Chaves. “And I’m good at taking care of children.”

The fourth-year biology major from Hilo has known for a long time that she wants to become a doctor. And because of her background, she’s most interested in family medicine and pediatrics. 

“Doctors come from the mainland and they serve people in Hawaii, but it’s rare that you find Native Hawaiian doctors in the medical field,” says Ishii-Chaves. “If I can become a doctor, then I can help children and better inform them. I feel like it’s my job to give back by educating my community.”

When her advisor and professor at Chaminade, Dr. Cogbill, sent her a list of summer research projects on the mainland, she jumped at the opportunity. She was quickly partnered with a Jamaican doctor at the Burnham National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who specializes in pediatric internal medicine. 

A Doctor in the Making | Hi'ilei Ishii-Chaves

“I liked that my mentor was working on diabetes in children,” explains Ishii-Chaves. “I’ve always been interested in health disparities. I also really liked that my mentor is of a minority as well.”

Ishii-Chaves is spending the summer researching type 2 diabetes in children. She’s particularly looking at dyslipidemia, or abnormally elevated levels of cholesterol and fats found in the blood, in children with type 2 diabetes to see how it compares to adults with the same disease. Her team hopes the research will lead to early detection, and even prevention of the increasingly common childhood disease. 

But perhaps the most attractive part of the program was the hands-on experience. Several times a week, she shadows her mentor and accompanies her on patient visits. “I take patients to do blood tests, MRI scans and echocardiograms, and I sit in on their evaluations or wait in the waiting room with them,” she says. And every two weeks, they go into the children’s hospital in Washington D.C. to spend a full day visiting patients. 

Ishii-Chaves has found the experience to be particularly timely for her right now. “I’m actually applying to medical school right now for the 2020 cycle through Chaminade’s articulation agreement,” says Ishii-Chavez.

She hopes the invaluable experience and connections she gains this summer will stay with her throughout her journey of becoming a doctor.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Featured Story, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Students Tagged With: Biology

Chaminade University Logo

3140 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816

Contact Us
Phone: (808) 735-4711
Toll-free: (800) 735-3733

facebook twitter instagram youtube linkedin

Visit

  • Plan a Visit
  • Campus Map (PDF)
  • Events

Resources

  • Campus Security
  • Student Consumer Information
  • Institutional Review Board
  • Title IX / Nondiscrimination Policy
  • Emergency Information
  • Careers

People

  • Students
  • Parents
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Staff
US News BadgeUS News Badge US News Badge

Footer

© Chaminade University of Honolulu

Terms and Conditions of Use
Site Information