Our Team

Hi! My name is Shirley and I am a first-year medical student at JABSOM. I was born and raised in Honolulu, HI, and graduated from McKinley High School. After spending two years at Santa Monica College, I transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles where I majored in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. I took 5 gap years exploring my interests in cancer research, global health, and community outreach which altogether motivated me to pursue medicine as a career. During my free time, I enjoy hiking, going to the beach, and hanging out with my two pitbulls. As someone who is a proponent of podcasts, mentorship, and diversity, the idea of JABSOM Journeys was born to bring to light the unique trails medical students trekked to achieve their goals. I am excited to learn more about my fellow classmates as we dive into their pre-medical journeys. I hope you enjoy it!

Hello everyone, welcome to JABSOM Journeys! My name is Anna and I'm a 1st year student at JABSOM. I was born and raised in Hawai'i, graduated from Kaiser High School (very proud Kaiser Cougar!), and attended Orange Coast College and University of California, Irvine. After obtaining an A.A. and a B.S. in Public Health Sciences, I took a gap year to continue working and volunteering while applying to medical school. I'm now thrilled to be back home and I enjoy spending my free time at the beach, hiking, playing sports (volleyball!!), and reading. As a first-generation college graduate and first in my family to go into healthcare, I am passionate about mentorship and so excited to be a part of this podcast! By highlighting our classmates' journeys to medicine, we hope you are inspired, motivated to continue your own journey, and able to see yourself as a future medical student. You got this!

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Albrecht and I am a 1st year medical student at JABSOM. I was born and raised in Captain Cook on the Big Island of Hawai'i where I graduated from Konawaena High School (Go Wildcats!). Trading in the warm weather for some rain, I attended the University of Washington in Seattle and got a B.S. in Bioengineering. After college, I took a gap year to work as a vascular researcher and then was accepted into the ‘Imi Ho‘ōla Post-Baccalaureate Program in 2019. Although I enjoy binge watching K-dramas, Netflix shows, and 90-day fiancé, I also like to go hiking, swimming, and exploring new food places! I hope the stories shared in our podcast episodes provide some guidance and reassurance on this sometimes-confusing path to medicine. Feel free to reach out to us all as future mentors with questions or suggestions! Excited to be walking alongside you all on your journeys.

Hi! My name is Kellie and I'm also a first-year medical student at JABSOM. I grew up in Honolulu, graduated from Kalani High School (go falcons!), then got my degree in Molecular Cell Biology at UH Mānoa. During my gap year, I took my MCAT, scribed in the Queen's ED, and watched waaaaay too much Netflix. When I'm not studying (which, yes, does happen!), I enjoy playing sports, hiking, eating acai bowls, napping, playing with my two doggos, and boba boba boba. I'm excited to be bringing you the stories of our classmates' paths to medicine and give you a sneak peek at all of the awesome people here at JABSOM. And who knows, we may be listening to one of YOU on this podcast someday!

Hey! I’m Brendan, a first-year medical student at JABSOM. I grew up in Honolulu and graduated from Iolani School, then Amherst College. After majoring in statistics, I hung out in Boston for 2 years so that I could attend Celtics games and occasionally do clinical research at one of their hospitals. Eventually I decided to pursue medicine over biostatistics or epidemiology and returned home. While I’ve been fairly boring during COVID, I generally enjoy playing soccer, reading and hiking during my free time. I hope that listeners are able to identify with some of our classmates' stories and take away valuable advice from their trials and tribulations. Even more so, I hope pre-meds can learn from their predecessors and carefully craft their own journey in order to become outstanding people in general. If you model our guests (and female hosts), I’m sure you will.