On the Scene: Angela Pratt

When Angela Pratt told her counselor at Kamehameha Schools that she wanted to become a doctor, he told her she wasn’t smart enough for medical school and should choose something more realistic. She proved him wrong by graduating from the University of Puget Sound with a double major in premed and business administration, but then put her career ambitions on hold to work as a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant and model in Milan, Italy. Pratt then entered the 1988 Miss Hawaii pageant with the goal of winning scholarships to continue her education. She finished as first runner-up and applied for a scholarship that enabled her to graduate from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. Today Pratt, 54, is mother to a daughter and chairwoman of the OB-GYN department at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. She is a leading practitioner in the field of reconstructive and cosmetic gynecology.

What part of your practice do you enjoy most?

I get to deliver their babies. (Giving birth) is one of the most momentous occasions of a woman’s life in bringing a child into the world. I’m really blessed because I get that quality time with them.

What should women know about their health after they pass the age of, say, 30?

Women are living longer now, and 50 really is the new 30. We can have our health at 50 years old, and we can be sexy and we can be vivacious and we can have good healthy intimate relationships well into our 70s and 80s. If your genetics and your lifestyle lets it, you can live well well into your 90s.

What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in practicing medicine?

Finding the time you need to spend quality time with your patients like in the days of “Marcus Welby” so you can get to know your patients really well and get to know their families. Instead I find we’re having to address time constraints and spend more time in the business of medicine rather than the art of medicine.

I watched you leave early from the Hawaii Medical Association’s Ola Pono Ike Medical Gala last month to deliver a baby. How do you relax when you’re able to get away from everything?

I’m from Kauai originally, and that’s the place I go to recharge, but even when I’m relaxing and not doing anything, I’m thinking about how I can get other women to relax and take more time for themselves.