UH Med Now

OB-GYN Chair Ivica Zalud, MD named 2017 “Physician of the Year”

Date: August 30th, 2017 in Faculty, JABSOM News    Print or PDF

By Tina Shelton UH Med Now

It can be challenging trying to keep up with Dr. Ivica Zalud, even when you know ahead of time that he is an obstetrician. Their careers are defined by urgency, right?

But even fellow obstetricians might have been left breathless this summer while trying to keep up with Dr. Zalud.

He has been making public appearances seemingly all over the place. Now comes news that, fittingly, Dr. Zalud has been named 2017 Physician of the Year, by the Hawaiʻi Medical Association (HMA).

Dr. Zalud, Chair since 2013 of the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the University of Hawaiʻi medical school, will receive the honor on October 7, at the 2017 Ola Pono Ike banquet at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

“OB-GYN is a department on the move – and moving all in the right direction,” said Dr. Jerris Hedges, Dean of Medicine. “We couldn’t be more pleased that HMA is recognizing Dr. Zalud’s role as a Hawaiʻi healthcare leader.”

Under Dr. Zalud’s leadership, several members of the department have invested their own assets to support the training of future specialists in women’s health. Gifts to OB-GYN have exceeded $8 million, including $6 million by Professor Emeritus Thomas Kosasa, MD, who has said the quality of care provided by doctors trained by the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) inspires him.

OB GYN's chair holds a large ceremonial check, surrounded by UH medical school and Hawaii Pacific Health leaders.


Left to right: Raymond Vara, President & CEO of Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Martha Smith, CEO of Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Dr. Ivica Zalud, JABSOM OB-GYN Chair, Dr. Jerris Hedges, JABSOM Dean, Thomas Mundell, VP Development at Kapiʻolani and Linda Jameson, Director of Philanthropy at Kapiʻolani.

In June, the OB-GYN practice plan donated $100,000 to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, to refurbish call rooms for the MD Residents who train in the program there.

The month before that, in May, Dr. Zalud was in Hilo, where OB-GYN has deployed a full-time faculty member who has begun caring for patients. Next year, OB-GYN will begin rotating its most senior MD trainees through Hilo in collaboration with Hilo Medical Center and the Hilo Bay Clinic.

Hawai'i Island Mayor Harry Kim with Dean Jerris Hedges and Dr. Ivica Zalud share a laugh, meeting in May 2017 in Hilo.


Hawai’i Island Mayor Harry Kim with Dean Jerris Hedges and Dr. Ivica Zalud in May, 2017 in Hilo.

Next month, Dr. Zalud will accept the recognition as the first physician in Hawai’i to be named a fellow of the American Gynecologic and Obstetrical Society, an honor for which he was elected in January. Dr. Zalud is also currently serving a four-year term as a Vice President of the World Association of Perinatal Medicine.

JABSOM OB-GYN plays a major role in health care statewide, because its faculty are involved in the deliveries of one third of the babies born in Hawaiʻi every year, many of them high risk births, and many born to families unable to pay for the service.

Related Stories:

OB-GYN Faculty make the summer 2017 one of giving, including $6 million from Emeritus Professor Thomas Kosasa

OB-GYN alumna Angela Pratt gives back through endowment to inspire others

Gift supports new Resident Call Rooms at Kapʻiolani

OB-GYN opens new clinic to serve West Oʻahu community

An enduring gift creates an Endowed Chair in OB-GYN

Colin McCorriston, MD Endowed Professorship established with gift

Chair of OB-GYN elected first Fellow from Hawaiʻi

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