Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) has matched four new resident physicians with Hilo Medical Center’s Hawaiʻi Island Family Medicine Residency Program (HIFMR). They will arrive in Hilo to begin training this summer.
The physicians, who were matched by the National Resident Matching Program on March 17, are: Devin Hazama, DO; Kallan Ross, MBChB; Mililani Trask-Batti, MD; and Warren Yamashita, MD.
Each of them will train in a three-year program alongside learners from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s School of Nursing, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, and I Ola Lahui, a behavioral health training program specializing in rural communities.
“We welcome the latest class of residents into our ohana,” said Dan Brinkman, East Hawaiʻi regional CEO of Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corporation. “We look forward to providing these highly qualified physicians with an excellent training experience.”
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
HHSC is working to address the shortage of primary care physicians in Hawaiʻi through training and retention. This is the fourth year of its Primary Care Training Program (PCTP), described as “an emerging model of success” in Family Medicine Residency for Neighbor Island and rural communities throughout Hawaiʻi.
“I’m really excited about the new class of residents,” said Dr. Mary K. Nordling, Hawaiʻi Island Family Medicine Residency program director. “As our residency program continues to grow, our residents and faculty are providing high quality healthcare to more and more people of East Hawaiʻi.”
She continued, “We appreciate everyone’s hard work and support for our residency program that is maturing into a medical home for some of the most complex patients in rural Hawaiʻi.”
This fourth class of residents joins: Will Chapple, MD, Tuy-Ngoc “Unity” Nguyen, MD, Karen Rayos, MD, Gaku Yamaguchi, MD; Vincent Giani, MD; Nataliya Holmes, MD; Ashley Noelani Kong, MD; Tereza Molfino, MD; and Kapaakea Charles Puaa, MD.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
HIFMR will graduate its inaugural class of residents this summer: Kaohimanu Dang Akiona, MD, Svetlana Shchedrina, MD and Seren Tokumura, MD.
New Resident Physicians:
Devin Hazama, DO, attended medical school at the University School of Osteopathic Medicine Arizona and graduated in 2017. He completed his undergraduate degree in Japanese at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. During his first two years in medical school, Hazama worked as a student volunteer at neighborhood clinics in Nanakuli and completed rotations in Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. He is fluent in Japanese and has roots on Oahu.
Kallan Ross, MBChB, attended medical school at the University of Pretoria School of Medicine, South Africa, graduating in 2011. Following her schooling, she completed a medical internship in Barbetron caring for TB and HIV patients, and later spent a year working in a rural bush hospital in Mpumalunga, South Africa. Kallan currently works in a sports medicine clinic in Arizona. She has visited Hilo on several occasions as a cruise ship physicians and wanted to live her to complete her training in the U.S. as a family physician.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Mililani Trask-Batti, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, graduating in 2017. She has a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with honors. Trask-Batti was born and raised in Hilo and graduated from Kamehameha High School’s Keaau Campus. She completed several years of research at the Department of Native Hawaiian Scholarship, and has had multiple leadership roles while in medical school.
Warren Yamashita, MD, MPH, graduated medical school at the University of Southern California in 2017. He studied Biological Sciences and Philosophy during his undergraduate work at the University of Southern California. Yamashita has visited Hawaiʻi throughout his childhood and his fiancee is originally from the Islands with family living in Hilo. During medical school, he took an interest in working with homeless people and was awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. He also received the U.S. Public Health Service 2015 Excellence in Public Health Award and is currently an AAFP Emerging Leaders Scholar.
This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. Although Big Island Now encourages respectful communication only, some content may be considered offensive. Please view at your own discretion. View Comments
Devin Hazama, DO, attended medical school at the University School of Osteopathic Medicine Arizona and graduated in 2017. He completed his undergraduate degree in Japanese at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. During his first two years in medical school, Hazama worked as a student volunteer at neighborhood clinics in Nanakuli and completed rotations in Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. He is fluent in Japanese and has roots on Oahu.
Kallan Ross, MBChB, attended medical school at the University of Pretoria School of Medicine, South Africa, graduating in 2011. Following her schooling, she completed a medical internship in Barbetron caring for TB and HIV patients, and later spent a year working in a rural bush hospital in Mpumalunga, South Africa. Kallan currently works in a sports medicine clinic in Arizona. She has visited Hilo on several occasions as a cruise ship physicians and wanted to live her to complete her training in the U.S. as a family physician.
Mililani Trask-Batti, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, graduating in 2017. She has a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with honors. Trask-Batti was born and raised in Hilo and graduated from Kamehameha High School’s Keaau Campus. She completed several years of research at the Department of Native Hawaiian Scholarship, and has had multiple leadership roles while in medical school.
Warren Yamashita, MD, MPH, graduated medical school at the University of Southern California in 2017. He studied Biological Sciences and Philosophy during his undergraduate work at the University of Southern California. Yamashita has visited Hawaiʻi throughout his childhood and his fiancee is originally from the Islands with family living in Hilo. During medical school, he took an interest in working with homeless people and was awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. He also received the U.S. Public Health Service 2015 Excellence in Public Health Award and is currently an AAFP Emerging Leaders Scholar.
