John A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni Relations

Welcoming the Class of 2024 to the John A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni Relations ʻOhana!

Exciting upcoming event! Save the date :)

Save the date! Come join us on 3/10 for some family fun. More info coming soon!

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful alumni!

Hello fellow JABSOM alumni from your alumni association officers! Meet Dr.Richard Kasuya, Dr.Christie Izutsu, Dr.Ryon Nakasone, and Dr.Gina Fujikami. And a big mahalo to Christie Leidholm from alumni relations and Julie Inouye from UH Foundation for all their hard work as well as the rest of the alumni board to help plan events and foster alumni relations. Please feel free to let us know if you have any suggestions or want to help next year!

Day #3 of the 2023 JABSOM Alumni Conference in Vegas! Mahalo to our speakers Dr.Dee-Ann Carpenter, Dr.Kris Kawamoto, Dr.Paris Stowers, and Dr.Sony Ton!

2023 JABSOM Alumni Conference day #2! Mahalo to our speakers: Dr.Nic Villanueva, Dr.Jodi Kagihara, Dr.Kelley Withy, and Dr.Emilio Ganitano! And shout out to Class of 2014 for representing!

2023 JABSOM Alumni Conference in Vegas, Day #1. Great to see fellow alum and do some learning!

JABSOM is heading to the Ninth Island! ✈️ 🎲 Register for the alumni association symposium at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, on October 6-8! Join us for a weekend of professional development & connecting with JABSOM alumni.

REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-jabsom-alumni-association-symposium-tickets-631247417017.

SAVE THE DATE: Viva Las Vegas! 🎰 The John A. Burns School of Medicine Alumni Relations is proud to host a symposium at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, October 6-8, 2023. Mark your calendars for a time of professional development & reuniting with colleagues on the ninth island! Registration coming soon!

Happy Doctor’s Day to our wonderful JABSOM alumni! Thank you for all that you do.

Deadline to sign up is tomorrow 3/20! Come have fun with the family, fellow alums and Jabsom ohana back on campus! Copy and paste this link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jabsom-eggstravaganza-registration-540061998977

Fun for the whole family and an opportunity to come back to campus. Save the date! More info to come!

Save the Date! ⛳️ The JABSOM Alumni Association welcomes alumni, family and friends to participate in the 1st Annual JABSOM Alumni Golf Tournament on Wednesday, March 15 at Ewa Beach Country Club. Proceeds from this event will support the JABSOM Alumni Association and the JABSOM Class of 2026. Registration information coming soon!

For more information, please email [email protected].

Interested in donating goods, services, or making a monetary donation? Please email [email protected] or Christie Leidholm at [email protected].

Today we honor Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli (JABSOM MD 1975). Known in the community as “Uncle Emmett,” he will be remembered for his courageous stand, which led the U.S. Navy to cease bombing on Kahoʻolawe. He will be remembered for his devotion to rural health and building health systems on Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.

Read more: https://jabsom.hawaii.edu/in-memoriam-dr-noa-emmett-aluli/

Alumni Spotlight: Dr.Melanie Payanal, class of 2012. You may have seen her son recently in the Little League World Series!

What have you been doing since JABSOM?
After I completed residency in Family Medicine at the UH Residency Program, I opened a small solo private practice in Aiea. I also work part time as the Medical Director for St. Francis Hospice. However, the best part of my life since graduating from JABSOM has been raising my three boys (Keola 13, Kekoa 12 and Kuana 9). All of whom I had in medical school and residency.

What was your favorite memory from the Little League World Series?
My most memorable moment was watching Kekoa hit the leadoff home run during the championship game. The world did not know this, but Kekoa played the entire tournament from regionals to the World Series with a fractured right medial epicondyle. He simply powered through and became a silent leader for his fellow teammates as their lead batter. In the end, Kekoa had the most homeruns (4) for this summer's Little League World Series.
Although we are very proud of his baseball accomplishments, as parents we are most proud of the exceptional human being Kekoa has grown to be through his two-year Little League World Series journey.
Before we left for the tournament, Kekoa had designed his own hats and sold them to hustle money for his team. He was able to fundraise $4000 and gave half of the proceeds to his team to show his support. Upon return from the tournament, he had a few remaining hats and decided to sell them with 100% of the proceeds given to Easton Oliverson (a fellow Mountain Region Little League player out of Snow Canyon Utah who had a tragic accident while at the Little League complex).
Although it's nice to be a World Series Champion, I have always taught my boys to utilize their success in life to uplift and raise others. They are very fortunate to have many great opportunities to be successfully, but I remind them often that in life, winning isn't about holding a title. Winning is really about what you can do with that platform to help elevate others. Thats called winning at the game called LIFE!

Dr.William “Bill” Thomas, Class of 1999, passed away recently. Dr.Ivy Nip Asano remarks: “Bill was a loving and giving person. He always "made it work" and gave of his time so generously. My community health students were just a few of the many students who benefited from his positive energy and wisdom. Bill would invite them to his MGH clinic afterwhich he spent time just talking story about life on Molokai and his journey. I will miss his warm hugs and seeing the twinkle in his eye.
He will be greatly missed.” Our condolences go out to his family and friends.
PC: 'Ahahui o na Kauka

Molokai Gains a New Doctor

Dr. Randi Olds. Photo courtesy of Jeanette Oshiro.

“’Doctor’ was never in my life plan,” said Dr. Randi Olds, MD, who has moved to Molokai from Kauai to serve the island’s rural community at the Molokai General Hospital Outpatient Clinic.

Her ‘life plan’ changed, however, when she attended community college in Las Vegas after graduating from Kamehameha Schools, initially majoring in business.

“I always liked chemistry,” she said. “My organic chemistry teacher mentored me and asked me if I ever thought about going into medicine. ‘Like a nurse?’” she asked. “’No, a doctor,’” he told her. “It was the first time I ever thought about it.”

As the first person in her family to go to college, having someone believe in her, push her to do to well and put her in touch with clinicians and doctors made a big difference for Olds, and her professor eventually swayed her to pursue the profession.

She worked restaurant jobs to put herself through her undergraduate studies and went on to attend medical school at University of Hawaii.

“I never thought, coming from a small town on Kauai, I’d ever be a doctor,” Olds said. The only doctors she knew growing up were pediatricians and family doctors, so she chose a path to become a primary care provider.

She completed her residency on Oahu in internal medicine, an area of primary care that focuses on in-depth adult care for complex, high risk illnesses and those with multiple medical problems, Olds said.

Though she loves children, she found during her training rotations she “didn’t have the heart” to see children sick and in pain every day, so she treats patients over the age of 18.

She was offered a job at Queen’s Medical Center following her residency but didn’t want to settle on Oahu.

“I’m more of a country girl,” she laughed. “Honolulu doesn’t need one more doctor. Our med school preaches medical shortage on outer islands but there’s not a lot of support out here. I’ve always been passionate about that.”

Instead, she took a position at Kauai’s Community Health Center, which she said she enjoyed.

But a move to Molokai combines her rural roots with her desire to make a difference.

“My family would always travel to Molokai for rodeos,” she said, describing her dad as a “full on cowboy.”

“My family grew up on Hawaiian Homes on Kauai. I grew up on a ranch with horses and cows, hunting every weekend.” She added that already being familiar with Queen’s on Oahu, having the support of Queen’s Health Systems at Molokai General Hospital made it a perfect fit.

She started practicing on Molokai at the end of April.

“A lot of patients are like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank you so much for being here,’ but then they ask, ‘Are you just a visiting doctor?’ Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave,” she laughed.

“I plan on staying here… This is really where the need is,” Olds added, referencing Molokai’s largely Native Hawaiian population.

“Maybe I’m making a difference.”

https://themolokaidispatch.com/molokai-gains-a-new-doctor/

A gentle push for more Hawai`i Island OB/GYN doctors. – John A. Burns School of Medicine Dr. John Uohara (JABSOM MD 1975), a long-time faculty and OB/GYN in Hilo, says he had never counted how many babies he delivered from the time of his residency

Happy Doctors’ Day!

Congrats to our soon to be newest alum!

Congratulations to our MS4s! Any favorite memories from your Match Day?

JABSOM Match Day 2022 JABSOM Match Day 2022 Presentations

Welcome home to Janine Doneza, class of 2008! She is now performing minimally invasive GYN surgeries on the Big Island. See below to get to know her better and what she’s been up to since JABSOM. And Happy Belated International Women’s Day!

1) what you do and why did you choose your field?
I’m a fellowship-trained minimally invasive gyn surgeon. I perform complex pelvic surgeries with a preference for using the robot. I have background in both general surgery and gynecology, so being in the OR was always a desire for me. I was drawn to robotic surgery because I wanted to be at the forefront of something important in surgery.

2) why did you come back to Hawaii?
I came back to Hawaii because this is my home! I wanted to be closer to family and have my kids grow up the same way I did. Also, it has been my dream to take care of people where I grew up.

3) fun fact about you
I met my husband when I was a general surgery resident. He is now a robotic urologic oncologist and we both operate at Hilo Medical Center.

Dr. Elizabeth "Libby" Char (JABSOM MD 1991), director of the Hawai’i Department of Health delivered the fall 2021 commencement address at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She recalls her experiences as a UH alumna, an emergency room doctor, and at the helm during the worst public health emergency in 100 years. Watch the full video at the link: https://youtu.be/a2BA3drM1ew

Check out the Midweek feature on Dr. Natascha Ching (JABSOM MD 1997), assistant professor of pediatrics.

Find out what Hawaii Pacific Health Medical Group's Dr. Natascha Ching's role is as a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, her advice to parents about helping their children understand what to expect when they receive COVID-19 vaccine and what inspired her to become a physician in the November 24 issue of MidWeek. https://bit.ly/3nYaGl8.