{"id":12649,"date":"2020-01-30T14:25:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T00:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/?p=12649"},"modified":"2020-02-14T05:18:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T15:18:14","slug":"weareuhphawaii-dr-robert-hong-doing-the-next-right-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/weareuhphawaii-dr-robert-hong-doing-the-next-right-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"#WeAreUHPHawaii: Dr. Robert Hong: Doing the next right thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"12649\" class=\"elementor elementor-12649\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-343912ec elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"343912ec\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4849b4fb\" data-id=\"4849b4fb\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c8bffe8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1c8bffe8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-large\">#WeAreUHPHawaii: Dr. Robert Hong: Doing the next right thing<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e9f1e09 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"e9f1e09\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-46f67bb elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/author\/mkotrodimos1\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"far fa-user-circle\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarybeth Kotrodimos\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-a474e5f elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/2020\/01\/30\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>January 30, 2020<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7de32f94 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7de32f94\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"572\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?fit=800%2C572&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-12676\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?resize=150%2C107&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?resize=300%2C214&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?resize=768%2C549&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?resize=1024%2C732&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5d55032b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5d55032b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-62adcb69\" data-id=\"62adcb69\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-25c34aa6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"25c34aa6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18acfcae elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"18acfcae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>January 30, 2020 &#8212;<\/strong><\/p><p>Written by Marybeth Kotrodimos<br \/>Photos from UH Med Now (featured) and Dr. Robert Hong (of Hong and wife Heidi)<\/p><p>Dr. Robert Hong had been the Chief of Staff at The Queen\u2019s Medical Center for the past six years. He is considered one of Hawaii\u2019s most accomplished cardiologists.\u00a0 If that\u2019s all we knew about him, we\u2019d say that UHP is indeed fortunate to have him join our ohana this past October.\u00a0 But it isn\u2019t just the medical accomplishments of Dr. Hong that make him such a welcome addition to our organization.\u00a0 It is his own heart as well as what he can do for the hearts of others that makes him such an asset to our organization.<\/p><p>Dr. Hong volunteered to serve on the JABSOM Scholarship Review Committee where he\u2019d read, as he says, \u201ca lot about the trials and tribulations\u201d the students were experiencing in trying to meet basic expenses like rent, food, housing and transportation.<\/p><p>\u201cOn the Scholarship Review Committee, you can read the stories of the financial problems faced by our medical students,\u201d Dr. Hong said. \u201cThis kind of brought things home to me.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cMany students don\u2019t have the spectrum of resources they need to continue their training,\u201d he remarked. \u201cIt hit me that some medical students are on food stamps and they can\u2019t afford parking here.\u201d\u00a0 To which he added with a laugh, \u201cWell, nobody can afford parking here.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe thing that was overwhelming,\u201d Dr. Hong said, \u201cwas that everyone had a positive attitude about the future. And that\u2019s what\u2019s important in medicine is that you go in with the dreams you had when you started.\u201d<\/p><p>Dr. Hong tells a story about a student who arrived late to a teaching session one day.\u00a0 He said he \u201cgot on her case about it\u201d until she told him that the reason she was late was because her bus was late.\u00a0 He checked to see if he \u201ccould just give her a Lyft card\u201d but found that it violated policy at JABSOM as this could be seen as him favoring a student.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-12675 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?resize=346%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"346\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?w=4032&amp;ssl=1 4032w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?resize=150%2C113&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thehongs.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 346px) 100vw, 346px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-12677 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?resize=406%2C258&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"406\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?w=2446&amp;ssl=1 2446w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?resize=150%2C95&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?resize=300%2C190&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?resize=768%2C486&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?resize=1024%2C648&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0429.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 406px) 100vw, 406px\" \/><br \/><em>Dr. Hong and his wife, Heidi, the namesake of the emergency fund they established.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><p>Not happy to just accept the situation as it stood, Dr. Hong decided to do something to help.\u00a0 So late last year, he created the Robert and Heidi Hong Fund to assist JABSOM\u2019s medical students who need help with basic expenses.<\/p><p>It distresses Dr. Hong that we can so easily lose a future doctor because of something that might come up which impacts a medical student\u2019s ability to meet basic living expenses. \u201cWhen you have someone who is training,\u201d he said, \u201cand they have to stop training because something happened and they can\u2019t, maybe, pay the rent, you\u2019ve lost a valuable resource.\u201d\u00a0 He recalls that when he was in medical school, he had friends who had to quit for those reasons. \u201cSomething is lost because of that,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>\u201cIf you can\u2018t afford a car repair and it impacts on you, or something happens one month and whatever cash flow you were expecting doesn\u2019t come through and you\u2019re kicked out of your apartment \u2013 those are things that medical students shouldn\u2019t be concerned about. If you hit a bump in the road along your career path, there should be some help for you. That\u2019s what this is about,\u201d Dr. Hong explains referring to the fund which he and his wife started. \u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t be terrified about living through medical school.\u201d<\/p><p>Dr. Hong does not easily accept praise for setting aside his own money to help out needy medical students.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not that much money,\u201d he said. \u201cThe main cost is still tuition, and it is nice that other groups are trying to help with that.\u201d Besides, he said, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing special about what I did. It\u2019s what people should do.\u201d<\/p><p>People in the medical profession, Dr. Hong said, \u201care part of a fraternity\/sorority that should support each other.\u201d \u00a0He said that he can give as he has because he is \u201clucky. I have a successful career, a nice house, great family, a wonderful wife. When you have the ability to help, you should help. That\u2019s the take-away here.\u201d<\/p><p>Twenty years ago, he said, he didn\u2019t have the time or means to help as he is now because he was building his own practice. \u201cBut when you have the opportunity to look at the whole picture, you should. In the end, was your heart lighter than Maat\u2019s feather?\u201d he asks referencing <em>The Egyptian Book of the Dead.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p><p>Dr. Hong insists that every day people in the medical profession are doing great things, and that he should not be singled out for his contribution.\u00a0 \u201cThere are a lot of people\u201d who are giving back as he has, he said, \u201ca lot of people. That\u2019s why we go into medicine. There\u2019s not enough people who get recognized for what they do.\u201d<\/p><p>He said that \u201ceveryone in medicine does great things every day,\u201d but warns that \u201cthere\u2019s a danger to being recognized too much.\u201d Doing great things \u201cis our job,\u201d he adds.<\/p><p>When asked about a patient of his who donated one million dollars to launch a \u00a0Cardiovascular Professorship at JABSOM, he dismisses the idea that (as it has been said) she did so in gratitude for him saving her life. The perception that doctors save lives, he said, is \u201cwhat causes ego, what causes separation between us and our patients. At the end of the day, we save no one\u2019s life. Everyone dies. You may help them live longer but it\u2019s what you do in life, that counts.\u201d<\/p><p>Though most us would certainly find Dr. Hong\u2019s generous contribution to needy students laudable and worthy of our appreciation and acknowledgement, he was reluctant to talk about it.\u00a0 \u201cThere are no giant heroes in life,\u201d he said, \u201cjust people trying to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-26377dc8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"26377dc8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-490de888\" data-id=\"490de888\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38ce841 elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"38ce841\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/news-all\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">&lt;&lt;   &nbsp;Return To News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 30, 2020 &#8212; Get to know Dr. Robert Hong, one of Hawaii&#8217;s most accomplished cardiologists. Dr. Hong joined the faculty practice in October, but has already made exceptional strides. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":12676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"nfd_image_url":"","nfd_onboarding_generated":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-12649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-department-of-internal-medicine"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/10878207503_f78509ec2f_k.jpg?fit=2048%2C1463&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12649"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12973,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12649\/revisions\/12973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}