Pinning Ceremony celebrates UH Hilo PharmD students’ transition into advanced practice
UH Hilo’s pharmacy college held a Pinning Ceremony to celebrate doctoral students’ transition from the classroom portion of their program to the experiential.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo pharmacy college held a Pinning Ceremony on May 7 to celebrate doctoral students’ transition from the classroom portion of their four-year program to the experiential.
The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy recognized the achievements of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Class of 2027 in a Pinning Ceremony to celebrate the transition from the three-year classroom learning of their curriculum to their final year of advanced pharmacy practice experiences. Over the next year, the students will engage in full-time immersion experiences in community, ambulatory care and hospital settings, specialty clinical services and other elective rotations.
“The final year of the PharmD program will be filled with growth opportunities for our students as they navigate new practice experiences, embrace their professional identities as future pharmacists, and prepare for licensure,” says Rae Matsumoto, dean of the college. “We look forward to them connecting learning, life and aloha as they embark on this next phase of their journey to serve the people of Hawaiʻi.”
Kīpaepae ceremony and inspiring speakers
The Pinning Ceremony began with a traditional kīpaepae ceremony to welcome the advancing students to the new phase of their journey to become pharmacists. Through mele and hula, the kīpaepae protocols were performed by students and staff from Hawaiʻi Community College and UH Hilo celebrating place and culture; pharmacy students were reminded that like volcanic eruptions, life brings chaos, but periods of calm always follow.
Speakers included pharmacy alumnus Bryce Fukunaga, now an associate professor of pharmacy practice at UH Hilo who received college excellence-in-teaching awards for 2025 and 2026. Fukunaga told colorful stories to help students remember that attention to detail matters, that faking it does not work, and that if you think otherwise, sometimes you may be the problem. Fukunaga is now a clinical pharmacist at East Hawaiʻi Health Clinics in Keaʻau and Puna Kai, an example of the growing impact that pharmacists who graduate from the UH Hilo program have on local communities.
UH Hilo Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa also spoke at the event, reinforcing the important role of pharmacists and their community impact. Doctor of pharmacy candidate Yukino Sugihara, president of the Class of 2026, provided additional words of advice and encouragement to the third-year students.
Pinning and the next step to become pharmacists
During the ceremony, pharmacy faculty who taught the students during the first three years of their doctor of pharmacy program pinned commemorative lapel pins on their white coats to symbolize the special bond that exists between students and faculty in the college. The pins show the readiness of the students to take this next step in their journey to become pharmacists.
The Class of 2027 also reaffirmed their commitment as future pharmacists during the ceremony by reciting the Oath of the Pharmacist together with other pharmacists in the audience.
By Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
