Hawaiʻi’s aging population is growing faster than the rest of the U.S., with more than 21% aged 65 and older (compared to less than 18% nationwide) creating an urgent need for specialized healthcare for our kūpuna. In response, philanthropists Allen and Anne Abaya established the Nohara-Abaya Geriatrics Fellowship Award in 2023 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). Now in its second year, the award continues to support young doctors and nursing practitioners committed to careers in geriatrics.
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“It makes you feel that what we are doing is worthwhile, you know? We’re getting more and more passionate about it because we see more examples of where the need is there,” said Anne Abaya.
Recipients make an impact
For alumnus Trace “Kaimana” Kalei, caring for kūpuna is deeply personal. “In Hawaiʻi, our kūpuna mean a lot to us, and being able to care for them is a way of us being able to give back to our ʻohana and to our community. It’s a privilege,” Kalei said.
Kalei also recognized the financial burden of training locally. “It’s a very valuable gift and we’re very grateful for it. It will help support many other folks down the road.”
Maxwell Shen discovered his interest in geriatrics during his JABSOM internal medicine residency program at Tripler Army Medical Center. “A lot of the patients that I took care of were the elderly population, so that’s where my interest grew,” he said. “It was really eye-opening to watch [my mentor] work, as well as giving me different types of pearls.”
Serving the elderly population has long been a goal for alumna Daniella Orias. “I, personally, have always loved geriatrics. It’s always been a huge part of my passion and so, even through my family medicine (residency) training, I’ve always held a really soft spot for it,” she said. “It’s a really tremendous honor that they’ve been providing this for us, so that we can keep trying to help out with our geriatric community and our kūpuna.”
Looking ahead
“As we look forward, the geriatric population is only going to get larger. This (program) will help to provide support for that,” Kalei said.
“We figure, anything we can do to help get those numbers up (those interested in geriatric care), it feels good,” Abaya added.
