HIFMR Announces Third Class of Recruits

From left, clockwise: Vincent Giani,, Ashley Noelani Kong, Tereza Molfino, and Kapaakea Charles Puaa. Courtesy photos.

Hilo Medical Center’s Hawai’i Island Family Medicine Residency Program has announced its third class of residents, who will begin their training this summer.

The National Resident Match Program matched Vincent Giani, MD, Ashley Noelani Kong, Tereza Molfino, MD, and Kapaakea Charles Puaa, MD with HIFMR last Friday.

“We welcome the third class of residents into our `ohana,” said Dan Brinkman, East Hawai’i Regional Chief Executive Officer of Hawai’i Health Systems Corporation. “We look forward to the opportunity to provide them with an excellent training experience.”

HHSC is in its third year with the Primary Care Training Program.

“We are excited to welcome our new class of residents,” said Dr. Mary K. Nordling, Hawai’i Island Family Medicine Residency Program Director. “Our clinic and residency continues to grow and our residents and faculty are providing quality health care to the people of East Hawai’i.  We appreciate everyone’s hard work and support for our residency program.”

The third class of residents joins the inaugural class of residents, Kaohimanu Dang Akiona, MD, Svetlana Shchedrina, MD, and Seren Tokumura, MD, and the second class of residents, Will Chapple, MD, Tuy-Ngoc “Unity” Nguyen, MD, Karen Rayos, MD, and Gaku Yamaguchi, MD.

These physicians have been matched to the three-year training program that integrates teaching from the University of Hawai’i at Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, the University of Hawai’i at Hilo’s School of Nursing, the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, and I Ola Lahui, a behavioral health training program specialized in rural communities.