Paulette M. Yamada, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Education Department of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science (KRS), will be teaching undergraduate and graduate students how to use exercise training to maintain the health of cancer survivors as they undergo (toxic) cancer treatments.
Yamada was named the 2017–2018 Hubert V. Everly Endowed Scholar in Education and is using her $10,000 scholar award to launch the student-centered research program through Cancer Exercise Rehabilitation Internships.
“I am very grateful to be the recipient of this award, which gives our KRS students the opportunity to be involved in a valuable research project and to gain first-hand clinical experience,” said Yamada. “The momentum generated by this scholarship truly has the capacity to improve the physical and psychosocial health of cancer patients in Hawaiʻi, and it is exhilarating to know that KRS students will be a part of this mission.”
Incorporating cancer exercise rehabilitation into patient care
Through a multidimensional rehabilitative approach, students will be given opportunities to learn the most effective exercise training methods for clients with very special and often very serious considerations. Students will also be eligible for certification through the cancer exercise specialist exam, administered by the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific.
Yamada, who teaches structural kinesiology and exercise physiology, will work in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, the University of Northern Colorado Cancer Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center to provide real world educational and professional experiences for students. Their shared goal is to incorporate cancer exercise rehabilitation into normative care for all cancer patients in Hawaiʻi.
“Our collaborators are committed to working together to secure funding in the future in order to sustain this program and provide continued support for KRS students,” concluded Yamada. “The program will ultimately benefit our students, the university, cancer patient communities of Hawaiʻi and cancer research on a global scale.”
More about the Hubert V. Everly Endowed Scholar in Education
Yamada was selected through a rigorous process by a committee of tenured senior faculty members from across the College of Education. The award honors the legacy and service of the college’s longest serving Dean, Hubert V. Everly, who became dean of the Teacher’s College in 1956. He continued as dean when it became the College of Education in 1959 until his retirement in 1979.
He received numerous honors for his contributions to education, including the endowed scholar position established in his name and a Lifetime Achievement award from the College of Education in 2006.
—By Jennifer Parks
