About my practice

My mom, a nurse, inspired my interest in the medical field and in caring for others. When I was in high school, my obachan (great-grandmother) developed Alzheimer's. It was difficult for our family to watch her illness progress and eventually take her from us. This reinforced my passion for medicine, both in learning about illness and educating and helping families. I also very much enjoyed human biology.

My love for family medicine developed gradually. Continuity of care and getting to know my patients were what initially drew me to this specialty. I also appreciated the importance of preventive care and the careful management of chronic medical conditions. I found that I enjoyed women's health and that I loved being able to treat an entire family, from seeing a little boy in clinic with his parents, to delivering his newborn sister, to treating his grandparents. Family medicine became the logical choice of specialty for me.

My research on the relationship between the inability to swallow and all-cause mortality was displayed at the Presidential Poster Presentation at an American Geriatric Society Meeting in California as part of the Honolulu Asia Aging Study. I also co-wrote a research paper on the effects of nutritional deficiency on West Nile virus during pregnancy that was published in Virology Journal.

I keep up with current medical research by reading online and paper journals and articles, checking medical websites, getting notices via medical phone apps, and discussing new recommendations with fellow colleagues.

I joined the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group because we share beliefs and goals pertaining to care. I, too, have a passion for helping the whole patient, for providing safe, quality care, and for practicing preventive medicine so that conditions don’t worsen and require hospitalization.

My primary philosophy of care, in fact, is to treat the patient in a broad, inclusive manner. This includes addressing social situations, listening to the patient’s concerns, doing patient and family education, and anything else that could relate to the person's condition. I try to ensure that the patient understands, agrees with, and is comfortable with any proposed treatment plan. By nature I’m a friendly person. Listening and understanding a person's situation and medical problems helps me to connect with my patients. I also just enjoy talking story with everyone!

How I thrive

I try to stay healthy by spending time with my family and loved ones, eating together and laughing together. I also run on my treadmill and exercise to workout videos. I enjoy fiction, watching movies, and eating at new places. Once in a while I also enjoy a good shopping day!