Dorothy Natsui
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April 28, 1909
Dorothy Natsui | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shimeno Natsui April 28, 1909 Maui, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Died | July 4, 2005 (age 96) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Other names | Dorothy S. Lafon |
| Occupation | Psychiatrist |
Dorothy Shimeno Natsui Lafon (April 28, 1909[1] – July 4, 2005) was an American psychiatrist and public health official in Hawaii.[2]
Natsui was born in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii, the daughter of Harukichi Natsui and Moto Maeda Natsui.[3] Both of her parents were born in Japan.[4] She visited Japan in the summer of 1927, with other Hawaii-born teenagers of Japanese parentage.[5] She attended Maui High School, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Illinois. She earned her bachelor's degree and her medical degree at Loyola University Chicago,[6][7] where she was one of four women in her graduating class.[2][8] After World War II, she studied electroencephalography at Bellevue, Hospital, and child psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.
Career
Natsui served an internship at a hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin,[9] and held a residency at Queen's Hospital in Honolulu.[2] She opened an office in Kahului in early 1938,[10] and in Wailuku later that year,[11] She was an active member of the Maui Japanese Civic Association in 1939.[12] In 1940 she joined the University Japanese Club in Honolulu.[13] She presented a paper at the Honolulu County Medical Society meeting in October 1941.[14]
She was a child psychiatrist with the Hawaii Board of Health's Bureau of Mental Hygiene[15] from 1947[16] to 1949.[17] In 1966, she was named director of the child guidance outpatient clinic at Kauikeolani Children's Hospital.[18] She was sometimes called upon to examine criminal defendants.[19][20] She lectured on mental health topics, such as sexuality,[21] stress and relaxation,[22][23] and fear,[24] to women's groups and professional organizations.[25][26]