UH Med Now
National mentoring award for UH alumna and obstetrician Bliss Kaneshiro Date: January 27th, 2019 in Alumni News, Faculty, Graduate Medical Education, JABSOM News, OB-GYN, University Health Partners (UHP)
![]() Pictured: Dr. Kaneshiro, wearing blue, is 4th from the left. She is surrounded by a few of her mentees – faculty, fellows, researchers, and residents. By Tina Shelton, JABSOM Communications Director Friends and colleagues of Bliss Kaneshiro, MD, MPH, see evidence every day of the inspirational attitude and can-do leadership qualities which have earned her a national mentoring award. Dr. Kaneshiro, University of Hawaiʻi (UH) Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, accepted the 2018 Robert A. Hatcher Family Planning Mentor Award from the Society of Family Planning at its national meeting in New Orleans in October 2018. The award is reserved for those who have dedicated themselves to supporting and furthering the careers of a new generation of medical professionals family planning. Kaneshiro, a 2001 alumna of the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), “single-handedly created a new division within the department (the division of family planning) and spearheaded the development of a new post-residency fellowship in our department that started in 2012,” says Dr. Reni Soon (JABSOM MD 2001) a classmate of Kaneshiro’s and a fellow OB-GYN.
Making room for others Creating a clinical research program with little infrastructure The way Dr. Soon describes Kaneshiro’s approach in the workplace makes it clear that passion and effort go a long way toward achieving goals where she applies herself.
![]() Dr. Kaneshiro performing a mock exam in the University Women’s Health Specialists offices at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children. She also has patients at University Women’s Health Specialists offices at The Queen’s Medical Center and in Hilo. More about Dr. Kaneshiro |