Pictured: Dr. Bakken with Dr. Sasha Fernandes and Dr. Keawe Kaholokula of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, in 2015.
The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is saddened by the death of a remarkable man who was a generous supporter of our medical students and the school’s mission to build the MD workforce in Hawai’i’s rural neighbor island communities.
Hawaiʻi Island resident and co-founder of Medtronic Inc. Dr. Earl Bakken passed away this past week on Hawai’i Island. Bakken is best known for his invention of the ambulatory pace maker, which has saved countless lives across the globe, as well as his work with Medtronics, a company that continues to develop innovative medical devices.
“All of Hawaiʻi and the world will surely miss Dr. Bakken and his visionary contributions,” said Dr. Keaweʻaimoku Kaholokula, Chair of the JABSOM Department of Native Hawaiian Health. “We remember his generosity to our communities – from being a benefactor of North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital to supporting our Hawaiian people and culture.”
In 2015, Bakken created the Lau Hawaiʻi Fund at the JABSOM in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health to nurture a robust primary care physician workforce on Hawaiʻi Island by enhancing initiatives that work to increase the number of physicians from rural, underserved and/or Native Hawaiian communities. It has allowed select ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate students to complete a rural rotation on Hawaiʻi Island during the final phase of the ʻImi Hoʻōla program. (ʻImi Hoʻōla means “Those who seek to heal.” Lau can mean “many”, or signify “growth” as in seedlings, etc.)
It also permits first and second year medical students to serve as peer mentors to middle and high school students and UH Hilo undergraduates as part the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence workforce development initiative on Hawaiʻi Island. The goal is to expose students to the health professions and to provide them with guidance and mentoring toward becoming a health professional with an emphasis on serving Hawai‘i Island.
Finally, the fund allows select third-year medical students to complete a six-month longitudinal rotation on Hawai‘i Island, to introduce them to clinical practice on Hawai‘i Island with the hopes they will choose to return to practice there after completing residency.