Dr. John Funai: The Heart of Kaua‘i
Dylan Lawton, MD Candidate
Having recently completed my first year of medical school at the John A. Burns School
of Medicine (JABSOM) last year, I’ve had time to reflect on the tremendous amount of growth
and knowledge obtained from countless mentors and patients. From learning about various
organ-specific pathologies to traveling across our island chain to learn about different
populations, I feel extremely grateful and humbled to be immersed in the field of medicine. As I
now am in the midst of my inpatient clinical rotations as a third year student, one interaction with
a Kaua‘i physician still guides my clinical practice to this day.
One of the main highlights of my first year included a three-month preclerkship rotation
on the island of Kaua‘i. Along with five other classmates, we were able to live and learn in the
Kaua‘i community. This experience was especially exciting for me because of my family history
on the island. My grandfather grew up in the town of Kapa‘a, where enjoyed the simple
pleasures of going to the beach, fishing, and spending time with family. These stories came to
life whenever I visited Kaua‘i. Unfortunately, my Kaua‘i ohana faced several medical hardships
over the years and they did not always have access to sufficient healthcare, which I later learned
was correlated to the island’s severe physician shortage.
Thus, during my time on Kaua‘i, I sought to learn more about this shortage. I was able to
shadow Dr. John Funai, a cardiologist at Wilcox Medical Center, who served as an incredible
mentor to me not only in the field of cardiology, but also in compassionate patient care. From the
moment I met Dr. Funai, I instantly felt welcomed by his warm smile and positive demeanor. He
quickly grabbed a chair for me to sit next to his desk where he began to explain the various
patients we would be seeing together that day. With every patient encounter that I observed, the
warm demeanor I had felt when meeting Dr. Funai seemed to permeate through each interaction,
and it was very evident that each patient greatly admired him. Although he sees hundreds of
patients each year, he not only knew about every detail of their medical problems, but this also
extended beyond to their social and personal lives. For each patient, he would use these details to
connect with and enrich each clinical visit, and I believe that is what distinguishes him to be an
excellent physician.
Dr. Funai has a teacher’s heart. Despite how busy he was each day I saw him, he would
always make time to discuss clinical cases with me and make me feel involved in patient care in
some way or form. As I got to know him more, I realized that used to be a clinical professor at
Harvard Medical School for decades, and his teaching abilities combined with his compassion
made him an excellent teacher.
As a future physician, it is my hope to enrich the Kaua‘i community through my practice
of healing. Dr. Funai’s compassion and mentorship is helping me to achieve that goal, through
not only solidifying my clinical knowledge, but also showing me how to best connect with a
community and provide compassionate healthcare.