Pictured: Dr. Izutsu eloquently thanked those gathered to celebrate his retirement and the endowment created in his honor. Our video camera foretells that we have a video from the event still to come. Tina Shelton photo.
To thank and recognize Dr. Satoru Izutsu for the many lives he has touched throughout the world during his career in medicine, Dr. Thomas Kosasa donated $600,000 to establish the Satoru Izutsu, PhD Endowed Professorship of Medical Education at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). To build on the impact of this new endowment, Dr. Izutsu contributed an additional $100,000.
The endowment was announced at a private event hosted by Dr. Kosasa, where more than 200 of people gathered. Among them were the colleagues, lifelong friends, and many of the physicians Dr. Izutsu mentored through the years. Nearly every physician who graduated from JABSOM before 2013 was interviewed first by Dr. Izutsu, the longtime Director of Admissions, and selected by the Admissions Committee he chaired. When he retired at the end of 2017, Dr. Izutsu was the medical school’s Vice Dean. Also present was Hawaiʻi Governor David Ige, who presented a congratulatory message to Dr. Izutsu outlining the outstanding service Dr. Izutsu has provided to the Aloha State.
To understand why so many in our community feel deep respect and affection for Dr. Izutsu, we invite you to watch a video produced for and presented at the endowment announcement and retirement gala.
More information about Dr. Izutsu’s life can be found below the video.
The Satoru Izutsu, PhD Endowed Professorhip of Medical Education
The first Satoru Izutsu, PhD Endowed Professor of Medical Education is JABSOM’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Alan Otsuki.
“I am deeply honored to be named the inaugural Satoru Izutsu Professor of Medical Education and will do my very best to follow in Dr. Izutsu’s distinguished and very energetic footsteps,” said Dr. Otsuki.”Dr. Izutsu’s legacy and Dr. Kosasa’s gift will allow us to do this by focusing on 3 areas: investing in our teaching faculty; innovating within medical education; and continuing to build deep and long-standing partnerships with the hospitals, healthcare delivery systems and the physicians of Hawai’i.”
More about Dr. Izutsu:
Dr. Izutsu is a native of Kauaʻi. He attended the Mid-Pacific School. During the Korean War, while studying at the University of Hawai‘i, Dr. Izutsu was a UH ROTC commissioned infantry officer called to active duty. His last assignment in the military was as mobilization designee to the Chief of the Army Medical Specialist Corps in the Office of the Surgeon General at the Pentagon. Dr. Izutsu retired as a full colonel after 30 years in the army reserve. During this time, his expertise provided him with the opportunity to travel in Eastern Europe and remote parts of Micronesia, Thailand and South Asia.
During his doctoral studies at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, Hawai‘i became the fiftieth US state. The new state of Hawai‘i government reached out to people from the state living abroad, encouraging them to fill civil service positions back home. An eight-month detour with the American Friends Service Committee came first, with Dr. Izutsu volunteering to start the first class of occupational therapists in Yugoslavia. He then returned to Oahu to direct a training program at Waimano Training School and Hospital. Two years later, he was the superintendent of the 860-bed facility for people with severe mental and physical disabilities.
During his career, Dr. Izutsu worked with the Regional Medical Program at UH Mānoa. Its mission was to address issues related to cancer control, stroke detection and heart disease treatments, with a focus on Hawai‘i, Micronesia, Guam and the South Pacific. He also served as a professor in the UH School of Public Health’s Department of International Public Health, and the director of admissions at JABSOM for nearly 23 years.
“Dr. Izutsu is a champion for diversity of the health care workforce—in nursing, public health, social work, and medicine—in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Island nations including Guam, American Samoa, Palau, Saipan, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap and the Marshall Islands,” said Dr. Nanette Judd, former Director of the ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate Program.
For nearly 25 years, she said, Dr. Izutsu worked tirelessly to recruit, admit, and graduate students from diverse backgrounds in medicine.
“His impact began with the yearly selection of the Admissions Committee members who worked their way through about 1,800 applications, of whom 64 were accepted. He strived to assemble a committee, who would function as an unbiased body to admit students to JABSOM, Judd said. “Dr. Izutsu and former JABSOM Dean Gulbrandsen were instrumental in transitioning ʻImi Ho’ōla from an enrichment program to an established post-baccalaureate program,” said Judd.
Up to 12 students from disadvantaged backgrounds are accepted each year into ʻImi, an intensive support program with provisional admission into JABSOM. ʻImi Ho’ōla has proudly graduated over 200 physicians since its inception in 1972.