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Dr. Donald Rost Banik, psychiatrist was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff October 8, 2023 at VA Pacific Island Health Care System. Dr. Banik is a clinician, educator, and Program Manager for

Traumatic Stress Disorders at the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System. That includes the outpatient PTSD Clinical Team, PTSD Residential Recovery Program, and VITAL Program (Veterans

Integration to Academic Leadership) embedded within local universities/colleges. He is also a co-mentor for VISN 21 PTSD Mentorship Program. Before entering VA PIHCS, Dr Banik worked as the

Embedded Behavioral Health Psychiatrist at Schofield Barracks, where he had the honor of treating active-duty soldiers (8th TSC) and supervising Psychiatry residents and Physician Assistants

during their psychiatry rotations. These efforts resulted in an outstanding clinical service award from the Commander of the U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks. Dr. Banik received

his undergraduate degree from DePaul University. He completed medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and received a Master of Public Health from A.T.

Still University. He completed his residency training in psychiatry at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. During residency, he completed one year of his outpatient behavioral

health continuity clinic at the VA Providence Health Center. He participated in a year fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis, where he further trained in psychodynamic

therapy. With an interest in cultural psychiatry, he was invited to Eldoret, Kenya as a resident and returning faculty member educating medical students and psychiatry residents in one of

their two country's psychiatry residency programs. As a National Health Service Corps Scholar, Dr. Banik moved to Hawai'i after residency training to work at the Waianae Coast

Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) for three years. While there, he served as an adjunct faculty member for A.T. Still University, training medical students within their psychiatry

rotations. At WCCHC, Dr. Banik also initiated a peer-led program for medical assistants to deepen their knowledge of behavioral health conditions and medications. The University of

Minnesota's Department of Psychiatry had recruited Dr. Banik as an assistant professor. There he trained psychiatry residents, medical students, and undergraduate students while

directing their outpatient Psychiatry Clinic before taking on the role of Interim Executive Medical Director of Behavioral Health for the University of Minnesota Health System. Returning to

Hawai'i in 2016, he joined the staff at U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks and then transitioned to VAPIHCS in 2018 in the above role. During the summer of 2021, Dr. Banik was

asked to act GREC ACOS bridging internal leadership until Dr. Raman filled the position. Dr. Banik's academic interests include PTSD, health disparities, severe mental illness, quality

of life in terminally ill patients, and effective teaching practices within psychiatry training. In addition, he has coauthored numerous articles and presented at multiple academic

conferences.