Armand Kainoa Chong

I was the third child born to Roy and Elizabeth Chong, on October 10, 1961.  My oldest sister Arleen Puanani is 20 years older than me, while my brother Elroy Kalani is 10 years older – we’re all 10 years apart!  My mother is half German and half Hawaiian, while my father is pure Chinese.  My mother comes from a family of four and my father from a family of seven – all of whom were born in Hawaii!

I come from a family of athletes and sports was all we knew growing up.  I was an all-state athlete and graduated from Iolani High School in 1979, I received an athletic scholarship to play football at Oregon State University – my brother also received an athletic scholarship to play at the University of Montana and the University of Hawaii. My career at OSU lasted from 1979-81; I tore my knee ligaments in the last game of the 1981 season, after which I returned home and enrolled at the University of Hawaii.  I received an academic scholarship to participate in the Imi Ho’ola program at the University of Hawaii School of Medicine from 1982-83 – an accelerated program for health careers of Pacific islanders.  From 1983-84, I finished my final prerequisites for dental school at Chaminade University.

Dental school at the University of Missouri – Kansas City began in 1984 and lasted until 1988. I was then accepted in a General Practice Residency Program at St. Francis Medical Center where I was through 1988-89. In 1990, I opened my own private practice and have been practicing here in Honolulu ever since. Several of my career highlights are listed in my curriculum vitae.