Family Medicine Residency Program Announces 5th Class of Residents

The Hilo Medical Centers announced that its Family Medicine Residency Program and Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) aims to train and retain primary care providers to relieve the severe shortage of primary care physicians and improve access to healthcare in Hawai‘i.

HHSC is embarking on year five of its Primary Care Training Program (PCTP), an emerging model of success in Family Medicine Residency for Neighbor Island and rural communities throughout Hawai‘i.

On Friday, March 16, 2018, the National Resident Matching Program matched Henry Cho, MD; Anna Maisu, MD; Antoinette Moore, MD; Deanne Higa, DO; Katelyn Steele, MD; and Alain Takane, MD with Hilo Medical Center’s Hawai‘i Island Family Medicine Residency Program (HIFMR).

These new physicians are scheduled to arrive in Hilo and begin their training this summer.

“We welcome the latest class of residents into our ‘ohana,” said Dan Brinkman, East Hawai‘i Regional CEO of Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation. “We look forward to providing these highly qualified physicians with an excellent training experience.”

“I’m really excited about the new class of residents,” said Dr. Mary K. Nordling, Hawai‘i Island Family Medicine Residency Program director. “As our residency program continues to mature, our residents and faculty are providing high quality healthcare to more and more people of East Hawai‘i. We appreciate everyone’s hard work and support for our residency program that is growing into a medical home for some of the most complex patients in rural Hawai‘i.”

This fifth class of residents joins: Will Chapple, MD, Tuy-Ngoc “Unity” Nguyen, MD; Gaku Yamaguchi, MD; Nataliya Holmes, MD; Vincent Giani, MD, Ashley Noelani Kong, Tereza Molfino, MD; Kapa‘akea Charles Puaa, MD; Devin Hazama, DO; Kallan Ross, MBChB; Mililani Trask-Batti, MD; and Warren Yamashita, MD. Last summer, the Hawai‘i Island Family Residency Program graduated its inaugural class of residents: Kaohimanu Dang Akiona, MD; Svetlana Shchedrina, MD; and Seren Tokumura, MD.

The new resident physicians have been matched to our three-year training program and will train alongside with learners 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 Mānoa’s School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene and I Ola Lahui, a behavioral health training program specialized in rural communities.

For more information on the HIFMR Program, go online.

Anyone interested in becoming a patient at the Hawaii Island Family Health Center, the home clinic of the residency training program, may call (808) 932-4215 for an appointment.