Newswise — Ikaika Kahoano is used to breaking hearts as a former star of MTV's series, "Making the Band," but now he is learning how to fix them.
Kahoano, who gained fame on the 1999 reality TV show that launched the boy band "O-Town," and later as a member of the group, "LMNT," is a student in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine class of 2010 at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland.
USU is the nation's federal school of medicine and graduate school of nursing. The students are active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service who are being educated to deal with wartime casualties, national disasters, emerging infectious diseases and other public health emergencies. Many of the university's graduates are currently serving on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kahoano is finishing up his first year of medical studies at USU as an Army Second Lieutenant. His brother, Captain Haku Kahoano, an Army doctor currently serving in Hawaii, told Ikaika about USU. He applied to other medical schools, but chose to attend USU out of a desire to serve his country, because the university offers students a debt-free education, and because of the university's family atmosphere. "There is something really cool about it," he said. "It feels like a big team."
"My country has helped me out by giving me a place," 2nd Lt. Kahoano said, referring to the fame he received from the TV show and his music. "It's my turn to pay them back by going to USU and by taking care of our troops as a military doctor."
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