Photo above:(left to right) Missy Naguwa, Dr. Mary Rose Nino, Jan Naguwa, Stan Naguwa
By Elaine Evans, Director of Development
On May 31, Dr. Gwen Naguwa’s brother and sister-in-law, Stan and Jan, and niece Missy gathered at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) to meet Dr. Mary Rose Nino, the recipient of the scholarship they established last year in Dr. Naguwa’s memory.
Dr. Gwen Naguwa
It was Dr. Naguwa’s fervent belief that, beyond medical knowledge, University of Hawaiʻi medical students needed to develop and practice the highest standards of professionalism in order to become good doctors. With this in mind, the Naguwa family directed that the scholarship be awarded to a student who demonstrated ethical responsibility to self and others, reliability and dependability, resilience and adaptability, and capacity for improvement.
Dr. Nino was especially thrilled and honored to receive the Naguwa Scholarship when she learned that the N in the “N-9” – a process that all JABSOM medical students follow meticulously during their training – stood for the last name of its originator, Dr. Gwen Naguwa.
After meeting Dr. Nino and learning that like Dr. Naguwa, she, too, had at a very young age set her sights on being a pediatrician, Jan Naguwa said, “We feel as if Gwen would have been very pleased with her scholarship fund recipient.”
Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Dr. Naguwa graduated from JABSOM in 1975. In her career at the medical school, she served as Associate Dean of Student Affairs for fourteen years. At the Office of Medical Education, she helped to usher in and champion problem-based learning and community medicine.
Dr. Mary Rose Nino graduated from JABSOM in May and will begin her pediatric residency at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children this summer.
Donations to the Gwen S. Naguwa Scholarship for Medical Professionalism (account #127-2360-4) may be made online at giving.uhfoundation.org or by check made payable to UH Foundation and mailed to:
University of Hawaiʻi Foundation
P.O. Box 11270
Honolulu, HI 96828-0270