DOCTORMADAMBA.COM - Key Persons

Dr. Gloria was born in Laoag City, Philippines and grew up in a big family in Manila. Even as a child she knew that she wanted to be a doctor. She was a bright and dedicated student and went on to graduate from Far Eastern University School of Medicine. At FEU she met her future husband (and classmate) Dr. Jose Madamba. They married and immigrated to the United States, ultimately settling in Honolulu, HI. Here she completed her residency training in internal medicine at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Gloria became the first woman physician of childbearing age to work at Straub Clinic & Hospital, and worked proudly on staff for 16 great years. But, though she loved working at Straub, she followed her heart and prioritized family: joining Dr. Jose in 1991 in private practice at the Liliha Medical Building. She's been here ever since. This change allowed her to spend more time with her son, who would also go on one day to become an internal medicine physician himself and join Dr. Gloria and Dr. Jose in that very same office. With guidance from spiritual guru Divine Mother, Dr. Gloria and Dr. Joseph began training in integrative medicine in order to add a holistic dimension to their patients' care, allowing for an even more comprehensive approach combining allopathic medicine with elements of alternative medicine. Drs. Madamba embrace a healing philosophy that appreciates the mind/body/spirit connection and view lifestyle/habits as first-line treatment to go along with natural & prescription treatments. With 40+ years of experience, Dr. Gloria has shown tremendous commitment, dedication, care, and love for all of her patients. She continues to have a voracious appetite to learn and is always researching ways to help people improve their health and wellness. Dr. Gloria enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, Hallmark movies, health/medical webinars, walking on the beach, yoga, dancing/Zumba, reading, gardening, and traveling.

Dr. Jose was born and raised in Bacara, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Countless generations of his family lived a humble life on the farm. But his father had dreams of him becoming a doctor and so Tata courageously immigrated to America and worked arduously on a Maui sugarcane plantation in order to send money home to the Philippines for Nana and his son. Through hard work and the loving support of his parents and Auntie, Dr. Jose fulfilled his dad's wish and entered medical school at Far Eastern University where he met his future wife, Dr. Gloria. After coming to America and settling in Hawaii, Dr. Jose completed residency training in the highly selective University of Hawaii surgery program, serving as chief surgical resident. During his 40+ year career Dr. Jose performed surgeries at virtually all of the Oahu hospitals. He also saw outpatients at offices in St. Francis Liliha, St. Francis West (now Queen's Medical Center West), and of course Liliha Medical Building. One of the highlights of his career is serving as President of the Philippine Medical Association, with the theme of his tenure focusing on spirituality and health. After thousands of surgeries and helping countless patients over the years, Dr. Jose finally retired in 2014. He now enjoys spending time with family, golf, cooking, family/action movies, nature shows & classic TV shows, yoga, reading, and traveling.

Joseph Madamba, M.D. is a board certified physician who is passionate about helping people learn how to become healthier. He believes that the best way to do this is to understand a patient's unique life story and health journey as completely as possible; this allows him to more precisely find specific imbalances leading to one's health challenges, and target those areas for treatment. Dr. Madamba's journey into the healing profession started at a young age. He feels blessed to be the son of two wonderful parents who are also Honolulu physicians - general surgeon Dr. Jose Madamba and fellow internist and integrative physician Dr. Gloria Madamba. He saw first-hand their hard work and commitment to their patients throughout their careers. Developing a great rapport and caring for patients with excellence, courtesy, and compassion were values instilled in Dr. Madamba at an early age. And, through his upbringing, he also came to learn the great value of having health in body, mind, and spirit. As a youngster, Dr. Madamba felt very proud to know that, as doctors, his parents were able to help save many lives and improve quality of life for many others. But on the other hand, he gained a unique perspective in coming to know the numerous pitfalls and challenges in the medical profession and current healthcare climate. With the freedom to choose, a young Dr. Madamba in college did his due diligence and explored several other career options pertaining to his interests - ranging from culinary arts to positive film writing - but ultimately he returned to embrace a career in medicine, where he felt he could have the most lasting, positive impact on helping people. With enthusiasm and energy, he entered medical school; however, some of Dr. Madamba's early observations during medical education and training gave him pause: -1st, Dr. Madamba recognized a consistent pattern of "sick care" and a "pill for the ill" mentality that is ubiquitous in healthcare today. While there is undoubtedly an important role for pharmaceutical medicines, he felt that too much of healthcare consisted of giving drugs (often lifelong and for only temporarily relief) for any and all problems with little focus on why those problems arose and how to help a patient heal. -2nd, he learned that the structure of the healthcare system created by insurance companies and the government led to short, rushed, often unsatisfying appointments for both doctors and patients. In this practice environment, there is little time for doctors to understand the full story of a patient's life and health journey, which are essential factors in treating many if not most illnesses. -3rd, Dr. Madamba observed a lack of emphasis on the power of lifestyle to cure and improve diseases. In modern medical education, insufficient time is spent presenting the significance and implementation of healthy lifestyle habits. Moreover, there is little emphasis placed on key determinants of health like mental/emotional/spiritual well-being, relationships and community, and environmental influences. Furthermore, there seemed to be little consideration given to the potential benefits versus risks of complementary and alternative therapies such as vitamins and supplements, herbs, and acupuncture. Fortunately, these negative observations about healthcare would not deter Dr. Madamba. Through God's Grace, while still in medical school Dr. Madamba's passion and inspiration were rekindled when he was introduced to the idea of integrative medicine - first by his spiritual guru, Divine Mother, and also at a serendipitous medical conference dedicated to integrative medicine. He learned how this novel approach combined conventional medicine with holistic, natural therapies. The concept felt reinvigorating and resonated completely with Dr. Madamba's instinctive views on health and healing. Re-energized, he was set on a career path and training that allowed him to develop the kind of practice he has today: in a phrase, holistic primary care. To be sure, the integrative medicine approach requires sustained commitment to change by a patient in partnership with the doctor and results tend to come more slowly and gradually compared to conventional medicines; still, Dr. Madamba believes that the positive effects of this method are more permanent and far-reaching. In fact, the principles and techniques Dr. Madamba has learned during his integrative medicine training have helped him and his family on their own health journeys as well. Dr. Madamba looks forward to working with every patient through this integrative medicine framework to help them achieve their health goals and optimize their health and vitality.