Mitch Cadiz, a first-year medical student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), has received a full-tuition scholarship from the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation. Cadiz, set to graduate in spring 2023 from the ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate Program, is the scholarship’s first recipient. The scholarship targets program graduates who are now MD students and plan to practice medicine in Hawaiʻi.
Cadiz, from Kalihi, is the first in his family to attend college. He aims to address the healthcare gap in his community, especially the lack of Filipino physicians. His experience as a translator for his grandmother at doctor visits underscored this need. Cadiz initially studied nursing at UH Mānoa but decided to become a physician after working with doctors.
Despite earning a nursing degree and working as a cardiac telemetry nurse, Cadiz remained determined to become a physician. He found the ʻImi Hoʻōla program helpful in preparing for medical school. He learned about the Clarence T.C. Ching Scholarship in his first semester and saw it as a chance to practice medicine in Hawaiʻi. Cadiz, whose parents are immigrants from the Philippines, chose to stay in Hawaiʻi to serve his community.