Dr. William Haning and Dr. Junji Takeshita were installed as members of the American College of Psychiatrists (ACP) at its annual meeting in February. Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, a Member, was advanced to the level of Fellow.
The ACP comprises more than 750 psychiatrists who have demonstrated excellence in the field of psychiatry, and achieved national recognition in clinical practice, research, academic leadership, or teaching.
The induction into and advancement within the ACP is initiated by other members and fellows and begins with an invitation. Drs. Haning and Takeshita are Professors in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM); Dr. Ahmed is a Clinical Professor, and a member of the Department of Psychiatry, Tripler Army Medical Center. Distinguished representatives of JABSOM’s regular faculty who are in the ACP have included Dr. Naleen Naupaka Andrade, a Past President of the College, Dr. Anthony Guerrero, present Chair of the Department, and Dr. Jon Streltzer, Professor.
About the honorees
Dr. Iqbal Ahmed is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry with both JABSOM and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), serves with the faculty of Tripler Army Medical Center; and is a leader in the field of geriatric psychiatry, serving as editor and contributing author on the American Psychiatric Association’s Ethnic Minority Elderly Curriculum in 2006 as well as a Member of the Editorial Board of the PRITE, the principal written assessment tool for psychiatric trainees. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK). In 2010, he was honored with the Diversity Award by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), and has received many teaching awards. He is a member of the Residency Review Committee for Psychiatry of the American College of Graduate Medical Education, where he shares oversight of all U.S. psychiatric residency training. Dr. Ahmed has chaired influential committees within AAGP and in the American Psychiatric Association that have moved the discipline toward greater awareness about the needs of our elders—who represent a significant and growing population in Hawai’i.
Dr. William Haning is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Chair for Education in Psychiatry, and Director of the General Psychiatry Residency Training Program at JABSOM. He is certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine, Chairs the Examination Committee for Addiction Psychiatry of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, is a Director of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Chair of its Publications Council, and is Principal Investigator for the Pacific Addiction Research Center (PARC®). His primary passion is directing the neuroscience curriculum for JABSOM; he has received several teaching awards and was Hawai`i Physician of the Year in 2014. As the Reserve Force Surgeon for U.S. Marine Forces Pacific he served also as the Division Psychiatrist, 4th Marine Division, as a Captain in the Navy Reserve, and the Retired Reserve. His awards include the Legion of Merit, and he remains Hawaiʻi’s Professional Services Liaison Officer for Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship beneficiaries.
Dr. Junji Takeshita is a professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry of JABSOM, where he has been a faculty member since 1993. He is the Program Director of the geriatric psychiatric residency program, being appointed to this position in 2004 after serving as Assistant Program Director from 1996-2002 and Associate Program Director from 2002-2004. Dr. Takeshita is also the Associate Chair for Clinical Services for the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Takeshita graduated from Columbia in 1984, Temple University School of Medicine in 1989 and went on to complete his psychiatry residency training at Yale University School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) in general psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Dr. Takeshita is an oral board examiner with the ABPN and was appointed to the Committee on Maintenance of Certification. Dr. Takeshita has been invited as a visiting professor to Japan and Micronesia and has won teaching awards from both medical students and residents. His research has primarily focused on Asian/Pacific Islander mental health, with particular emphasis on the elderly and medically ill.
About the JABSOM Department of Psychiatry
The Department of Psychiatry at the John A. Burns School of Medicine provides psychiatric teaching and training to medical students, residents in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry. It also provides inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services and consultation at the following sites: The Queen’s Medical Center, Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Hawai‘i State Hospital, and community mental health centers on the islands of Hawai‘i, Molokaʻi, Maui, Kauaʻi, and Lānaʻi.
The department conducts research in various aspects of psychiatry: culture and mental health of different ethnic groups, mental health epidemiology of Native Hawaiian adolescents, substance abuse, severe mental illness, neuropsychiatry, and psychopharmacology.
Members of the department contribute service to the community on both the state and national levels. They include such activities as member of National Institute of Mental Health Review Committees, president of the Hawai‘i Psychiatric Society, and president of the Hawai‘i Council of Child Psychiatry. Members of the department also provide consultations to schools and speakers for Parent-Teacher Association groups and other healthcare and community organizations.