Jester Galiza

Jester (He/him/his) is from ‘Ewa Beach, Hawai’i, which is on the island of ‘Oahu, and is a product of two Filipino immigrant rice farm workers. After graduating from Dartmouth College, he took a detour from pursuing a career in medicine when he discovered Teach For America (TFA) – Hawai’i, a program dedicated to social justice and educational equity. Through the program, he returned to his hometown, taught 10th grade math at his alma mater, and obtained a Master of Education. After teaching, he continued working for the program wearing multiple hats, from coaching new math teachers to facilitating sessions in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Eventually, he found his way back to medicine and attended the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai’i (along with his co-intern Kalei), where he leveraged his passions for education and DEI to bring legislative advocacy, activism, and community engagement to the forefront of his and his classmates’ medical school education. 

Jester found Med-Peds through his passion for primary care. It was important for him to be able to advocate and manage the care for his patients with a wide variety and complexity of problems encountered in all stages of life. He chose UCLA because of its strong commitment to DEI; diversity of its residents, leadership, and faculty; strong categorical medicine and pediatrics training; opportunities to serve across the spectrum of socioeconomic status; and its palpable culture of both academia and primary care. After residency, Jester aspires to be a primary care doctor in his home state of Hawai’i, serving disadvantaged populations and advocating for them through legislative advocacy and community engagement. During his time at UCLA, he hopes to get involved in Medical Education, QI, and JEDI/MEDI-PEDI. 

Jester enjoys going to plant nurseries and expanding his LA oasis; getting cozy at a coffee shop and reading for pleasure; going to the beach (which doesn’t compare to Hawai’i’s beaches, but they’ll suffice); playing beach volleyball; checking out the LA food scene; hanging out with his co-residents across Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and especially Med-Peds; and going to escape rooms with his co-interns Andrew, Kalei, and Kate. Jester struggles to commit to new TV shows, so he just binges on reruns of FRIENDS, which is the best show in existence.

Education:

Medical School - University of Hawaii
Undergrad - Dartmouth College