david ho attended taichung municipal guang-fu elementary school until sixth grade before immigrating to the united states with his mother and younger brother to unite with his father, who had already been in the us since 1957. he grew up in los angeles and graduated from john marshall high school there. he received his bachelor of science in physics with highest honors from the california institute of technology (1974) and md from the harvard-mit division of health sciences and technology (1978). subsequently, he did his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at ucla school of medicine (1978–1982) and massachusetts general hospital (1982–1985), respectively. he was a resident in internal medicine at cedars-sinai medical center in los angeles in 1981 when he came into contact with some of the first reported cases of what was later identified as aids.