UH Hilo student pharmacists named in national residency competition first round

Student pharmacists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo were “matched” with residency programs in round one of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Matching Program. More students from the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) have a chance to be placed when the second group of matches is announced after April 12.

Residencies are highly competitive opportunities for Pharm.D. graduates to build on their education in a clinical setting with an experienced mentor. The ASHP Resident Matching Program (the "Match") places applicants into pharmacy residency training positions in the United States. The Match includes both postgraduate year one (PGY1) and postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residencies.

About two-thirds of the 5,752 applicants nationwide were successfully placed in round one. Twenty-eight student pharmacists from DKICP participated in round one of the Match, with 13 placed. The remaining 15 students will have to reapply to be eligible for round two.

The Match, which is administered by National Matching Services Inc., is sponsored and supervised by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

Successful applicants thus far include:

• Class of 2017 - Year One Residencies (PGY1): Trenton Aoki, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia WA; Mark Allen Bibera, University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA; Megan Calderwood, Indian Health Service, Gnome, Alaska; Mari Louise Cid, University Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD; Christopher Diaz, University of Washington Medicine, Seattle, WA; Tiajana Gonzales, Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Birmingham, AL; David Khan, Indian Health Service, Gallup, NM; Kelsea Mizusawa, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Hilo HI; Lauryn Mow, Providence Centralia Hospital, Centralia, WA, Nadine So, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Hilo, HI; Zi Zhang, The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, HI; and Nick Nguyen, Genentech, Industry Intership, Palo Alto, CA.
• Class of 2016 - Year Two Residencies (PGY2): Walter Domingo Stanford Health Care, Stanford, CA. Specialty: Oncology; Alex Guimaraes, Fellowship Tricore Reference Laboratory Clinical Translational Care Fellow, University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, New Mexico; Jairus Nathan Mahoe, Palomar Health Escondido, CA. Specialty: Health System Pharmacy Administration; Bert Matsuo, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA. Specialty: Cardiology.
• Class of 2011: Matthew Kirkland, Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, Biloxi, MS. PGY1 with Mental Health Focus
• DKICP/QMC – Year Two (PGY2): Christine Luong, The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, HI. Specialty: Critical Care.