Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1992 — New medical practice is off and running [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

New medical practice is off and running

by Pearl Leialoha Page "They don't teach you mueh about running a business in medical school," says 31-year-old Dr. Miehael K.Y. Chun. Despite this, he has a three-year-old practice in Aiea, and has succeeded in paying off his business loan from the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund two years ahead of schedule. "As long as my doors are open, and there are a few appointments in the schedule book, I feel successful," he says.

Chun, a Pearl City High School graduate, credits his parents and family for helping him get through those first enieial years. His mother, Sandy, and nieee, Ammie Acosta, receive patients, book appointments and assist with the billing. His father, Raymond, got the ball rolling by investigating the NHRLF after reading about it in a newspaper article. The Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund is a low-interest federal loan program supported by the Administration for Native Americans and administered by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Eeonomie Development Division to encourage new and expanding businesses by

native Hawaiians. Chun's father then enrolled in entrepreneurship classes on his son's behalf while Chun was finishing his four-year residency in Denver, Colo. "Dad took the class to eheek it out. He got the main ideas and sent them up to me, so I could start developing a business plan," Chun explained. Chun is a doctor of podiatry, trained to treat all manner of foot injuries. He's one of two podiatrists in the central district of O'ahu and one of 23 podiatrists statewide. Podiatry is one of the top seven specialties for the '90s, according to weekly news reports. But Chun didn't learn that until taking part in a career

day at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, where he was earning a degree in biology. Podiatry caught his attention because he had worked as a student trainer in the athletic department. "We would send the foot injuries to the team podiatrist," he said. "I became curious and started asking questions." The subsequent answers helped Chun decide to enroll at the Califomia College of Podiatric Medicine. He returned to Hawai'i in 1989 and began networking with the Hawai'i

Podiatry Association and other doctors. He was then invited to share a medical office with two other doctors from whom he also received referrals. "Dr. Sherry Saito and Dr. James Hirasa helped me get my practice going," he said. Chun did all his own billing, charting and reports with the help of wife and sister. "At that time I was underbilling. It's all a learning process. It took me about a year and a half to get the hang of it," he said. Other office space opened up in the Aiea Medical Building, concurrent with the approval of his $50,000 loan from OHA. "When I agreed to take

the loan I wanted to set up a joint account with OHA," he said. That meant any improvements or equipment he wanted to buy would be double checked by his loan officer. "I could have taken the whole amount and spent it one time, but I didn't want to do that. It was a lot of money to borrow. It's not money to just spend on anything." He started out with basic equipment and used furniture. Last year he added a computer to his billing system and next year he hopes to be able to return his mom to retirement and start hiring

regular employees. "That will be a big step," he said. As a condition of the loan, after his first and second year in business, he had to pay back 25 percent of his net earnings. That left just a few thousand dollars left on the loan so Chun decided to just pay it off. "Being a business person has helped me mature," Chun said. "I wanted to do business in a way that was best for my patients and my business. Being on my own gives me that flexibility."

Dr. Miehael K.Y. Chun examines Ammie Acosta's foot at his Aiea medieal office.