Mentorship and Congratulations

My “aha” moment when I knew I needed to become a physician occurred at Wahiawā General Hospital when my dad, Jay Boy, was diagnosed with cancer. I was eleven and had no idea what this entailed. Twelve years later, thanks to the village that got me through high school, undergraduate, and a post-baccalaureate program, I received my “short” white coat at the beginning of my medical school journey in 2013. Dr. Miriam Chang, from Pūpūkea, was my family’s doctor through my middle school, high school, medical school, and residency years . She was the only person I knew to ask to shadow before medical school, wrote my letter of recommendation for my medical school application and scholarship applications, and is who I asked to don my white coat that day. The photo of this moment still hangs in my mom’s kitchen – a proud moment for everyone who got me to that point in life.

On July 26th, I had the privilege to don the “short” white coat on another member of our community who had the calling to become a physician – Stryder Williams. Stryder, like me, had the calling to become a physician but lacked any direct family members who were physicians to guide him on the journey to becoming a doctor. Thanks to mutual connections at the University of Hawai‘i, he was introduced to me to help finish his medical school application in 2022. After days of shadowing me in Hale‘iwa while still working, doing research, volunteering, and completing his undergraduate degree, he was accepted into the University of Hawa‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine class of 2028 this July!

If you know anyone in the community who has a calling to be a physician or is thinking about pursuing medicine, send them our way! All of the physicians and the nurse practitioners at Queen’s Health Care Centers Hale‘iwa are always looking for mentees, and Queen’s Health System has an easy onboarding process that allows shadowing, too.

Dr. Nash Witten is a Board Certified Family Medicine physician at the Queen’s Health Care Centers Haleiwa, located at 66-125 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa, HI 96712. The clinic is accepting new patients, call 808-691-8501 to schedule an appointment. Submit questions to the doctors at nsnaskthedoctor@gmail.com.