Nicolas Hatamiya, DO, a primary care sports medicine specialist, examines a patient at the Orthopaedic Institute on the Mission Bay campus in San Francisco. Dr. Hatamiya was awarded the prestigious UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine Excellence in Student Teaching Award for his outstanding commitment to student education, and his profound impact as a role model. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
San Francisco, CA – [June 21, 2024] – The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is proud to announce that Nicolas Hatamiya, DO, a primary care sports medicine specialist, has been awarded the prestigious UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine Excellence in Student Teaching Award. This honor is a testament to Dr. Hatamiya's unwavering passion for teaching, his outstanding commitment to student education, and his profound impact as a role model.
"Dr. Hatamiya was selected for this award by multiple medical students who recognized his exceptional contributions to their education and personal growth," said Dr. Carlin Senter, MD, director of UCSF Primary Care Sports Medicine. "The award highlights Dr. Hatamiya's dedication to nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals and his remarkable ability to inspire and mentor students."
Several UCSF medical students who nominated Dr. Hatamiya shared their transformative experiences:
“Working with Dr. Hatamiya was an absolutely amazing experience and I am truly grateful! I feel that I have truly grown over the year that I was able to learn from Dr. Hatamiya. For example, I was not very confident with many of the physical exams for joints. Dr. Hatamiya would walk me through them during clinic visits, observe me practice them, and provide real-time feedback. One of the most helpful aspects was the resources he provided—he shared PowerPoint presentations that he made in which the exam maneuvers were broken down and their significance/diagnostic relevance was explained. I used these PowerPoints regularly in my other clerkships."
"Whenever we saw a patient together after I first interviewed them, he would say, ‘Thank you for talking to (medical student); he told me about what is going on.’ This statement both helped the patient feel like their time being interviewed with a medical student was well spent and made me feel like an important part of the team."
"Beyond his role as a teacher, Dr. Hatamiya stands out as an outstanding physician and role model. I was truly inspired to watch his interactions with patients. Because he is a great listener, his patients truly trust him. Even when he is not able to offer a solution to a patient's problem, his patients are still grateful as they can tell that he is listening, cares, and does his best to find possible referrals or other specialists who might be able to help."
"Dr. Hatamiya is deserving of a teaching award for his dedication to his students and learners—further, he sets a wonderful example and is a true role model in terms of compassionate, patient-centered care.”
The Department congratulates Dr. Nicolas Hatamiya on this well-deserved recognition and thanks him for his continued dedication to excellence in medical education.
About Nicolas Hatamiya, DO
Dr. Nicolas Hatamiya is a board-certified primary care sports medicine doctor who focuses on caring for patients of all ages and strives to provide comprehensive care to help them achieve their goals and embrace healthy lifestyles. He has particular interests in musculoskeletal ultrasound, preventative medicine, and exercise-as-medicine care. Dr. Hatamiya is also the associate program director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine fellowship program.
In research, Dr. Hatamiya's interests include applications of digital health technologies, point-of-care ultrasound, and improving musculoskeletal medical education. He has also performed research in biomechanics and exercise physiology.
Dr. Hatamiya earned his bachelor’s degree in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif. He completed a residency in family medicine at Stanford Health Care, where he served as chief resident and completed a faculty development track. Dr. Hatamiya then completed a fellowship in primary care sports medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
On the playing field, Dr. Hatamiya has served as a team physician for the UCLA Bruins and local high schools and served as assistant team physician for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers. Currently, he is a team physician for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (NCAA Division II) and the Oakland Roots USL professional soccer team.
Dr. Hatamiya is also the associate program director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine fellowship program. He is a member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. In 2020, he received a grant from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine for a local humanitarian service project.
Dr. Hatamiya will see patients at the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute in San Francisco, UCSF’s Berkeley Outpatient Center, and at the UCSF Sports Medicine Center for Young Athletes in Walnut Creek.
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