ABR volunteer Brian Funaki, MD, a native of Hawaii, moved thousands of miles from home to attend college at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore more than 30 years ago.

We recently talked with him about why he relocated across the country to lay the groundwork for his career and what led him to choose interventional radiology. As a side note, we’re also planning to feature Dr. Funaki in the June issue of The Beam, our e-newsletter.

ABR 

You went to Johns Hopkins for college after growing up in Hawaii. How big of an adjustment was that?

Dr. Funaki 

I never saw the campus before the first day I was there. We didn’t really do college trips. It was just too far to do any of that sort of stuff. There was a lot of culture shock. You’re 5,000 miles from home and you don’t have Zoom and you don’t have phones. I can remember talking to my parents for about 10 minutes every Sunday in a payphone in our dorm. You really are thrown a bit to the wolves. My kids will never have that experience or even have any perspective on how that is because now it’s so easy to talk to people and FaceTime and do all that stuff, which is great, frankly. But none of that existed when I was in college.  

ABR 

It must have been tough going that far. 

Dr. Funaki 

I was homesick for probably at least the first semester, if not the first year. It was very different from where I grew up, but it was good. You survive and you learn to meet new people in different places. It was hard for sure, especially at 17 years old. It’s not an easy thing to do for any kid to go away from home. But at the same time, it’s a good experience and it’s something that probably everyone should do. A lot of my friends in Hawaii stayed in Hawaii. Not too many people went away. It was like people who immigrate here from a foreign country. You’re going across the sea, and you don’t have any ties and you don’t know anybody, and it’s always a challenge. But it was good. I think it makes you better as a person.

ABR 

What led you into interventional radiology?  

Dr. Funaki 

My dad was a radiologist, so I was exposed to radiology fairly young. When I decided I wanted to be a physician, obviously I got a little bit more insight into interventional radiology. I didn’t really do much of it until I was a resident. I was exposed to it a lot more, which is different from medical students these days who go straight into interventional radiology. I reached the decision that I enjoyed interventional radiology and wanted to pursue it. 

ABR 

Was your dad on the diagnostic side?  

Dr. Funaki 

Yeah. He was in private practice. I grew up on the south side of Kauai, Hawaii, and my dad was a radiologist there. He’s now retired. He practiced for many years in Hawaii.