Jennifer Real grew up in Cincinnati Ohio and it was her pediatrician grandfather that gave her the impetus to study medicine. Majoring in chemistry at Whittier College in California, she then went all the way east to study medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Coming back to the west coast to do her residency in internal medicine at UC San Diego, she also met her husband, David, who was then in the Navy. Her plans were to become a pulmonary specialist, but when David was transferred to Virginia Beach, she became a hospitalist and she discovered that she liked this type of medicine. She worked as a hospitalist for 10 years before transitioning to post-acute care last year.
When David got out of the Navy in 2012, they traveled all over the country looking for a piece of land where they could build a house and live off the land and off-grid. A friend recommended that they check out Hawai’i Island, so they came here on vacation, fell in love with the Island and they came over. They bought land in Makua Ninole and moved here with their 2 dogs. Since then, they have rescued 3 more dogs and also have an ever expanding flock of ducks.
In 8 months, David built them an off-grid house and a road to it. His business,
Bokoa Farms
,
www.bokoafarms.com
focuses on native reforestation. He harvests dead or dying koa trees, in the process clearing out the invasive strawberry guava. He plants 50-100 new koa for every tree he cuts down. He will soon start producing strawberry guava wood-chips for BBQ smokers, and hopes to create an entirely new industry on Hawaii island, one where an invasive species can be used to create a product, making reforestation sustainable.
Jennifer took up biking since moving here—she started in a spin class, then road biking and now she loves to ride up mountains (Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa). She also has been known to do the occasional triathlon, but only in order to ride her bike. She enjoys providing encouragement to people, especially other women to get into biking.
She worked as a hospitalist initially until joining SilverSage in 2017, where she is very happy. In her own words,
“SilverSage is an amazing company to work for. As a physician, it makes such a difference to be working for a physician owned and managed organization. I feel completely supported, understood, and valued. SilverSage allows me to be a physician and focus on what is really important, quality patient care. “
