Local High School Student Wins $500 College Scholarship at 6th Annual Hawaii Future Physicians Symposium

BY LINCOLN JACOBE – HONOLULU HAWAII – Waianae High School senior Ka’anela Amamalin took home a $500 scholarship at the 6th annual Hawaii Future Physicians Symposium. The event was held on Saturday, October 2nd at the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine.

“I am overjoyed that I have been selected to receive this award,” says Amamalin. The 17-year-old has been accepted into the 2011 freshman class at Chaminade University on an $8,000 yearly scholarship and plans to major in pre-med. Amamalin says she aspires to be an emergency room physician.

“My brother is paralyzed from the waist down and lives in Hawaii Kai. I moved in with him to help him, but I still go to school in Waianae. Because I am now supporting myself, my funds are very scarce and limited. I’m a senior but I’m taking college courses and I am only able to do so because of my award. I enjoyed the symposium very much. It was interesting and an educational way to learn more about the different health care options.”

Presented by John Olkowski, MD and Eyesight Hawaii Vision Institute, the symposium featured a discussion by several of Hawaii’s foremost physicians who spoke about the joys and challenges of their particular medical specialty. Physicians who presented include cardiothoracic surgeon Henry Louie, MD, plastic surgeon F. Don Parsa, MD, transplant surgeon Whitney Limm, MD, corneal and refractive surgery specialist Jonathan Etter, MD and the director of admission for the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Satoru Izutsu, PhD.

In addition, current college students from the John A. Burns School of Medicine discussed their medical school life experience and gave tips on getting into med school. All symposium attendees received a certificate of attendance. Plus, attending students qualified to win the $500 scholarship.

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