Pictured above: Arcelita Imasa with Dean Jerris Hedges and Dr. Winona Lee at the 2014 White Coat Ceremony for the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Arcelita Imasa, (MD 2018) has just finished her second year of medical school, and that is no easy task given that she is also the mother of a toddler. Arcelita spoke with another hard-working mom, UH Med Now student journalist Janelle Guerrero-Miguel (Journalism, UH Mānoa 2016) about the rewards of raising a family while studying full-time.
Where do you hail from?
I was born and raised in the Philippines- like my whole family- my parents and six other siblings. We moved to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi eight years ago, so we’re all here now. Then, I moved to Oʻahu for med school.
When did you come to Oʻahu?
2013–for the ‘Imi Ho’ōla Post-Baccalaureate Program. (Editor: ʻImi is an intensive, one-year MD school preparatory course the John A. Burns School of Medicine offers to promising students from disadvantaged or under-represented communities.) I went through ‘Imi and then I started first year [of medical school]–that’s when I decided to start a family, so it’s all planned. I had to talk to some of the faculty–someone–just to ask for a blessing or approval just to give me assurance that I’m doing the right thing, you know, starting a family at this point in my medical training. And when she said, “yes”–[I was like] alright!
