Pictured: Dr. Earl Bakken with Dr. Sasha Fernandes and Dr. Keawe Kaholokula of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, in 2015.
Alumni Newsletter:
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 physician workforce in Hawai’i’s rural neighbor island communities.
Hawaiʻi Island resident and co-founder of Medtronic, Inc. Dr. Earl Bakken passed away last month 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 Medtronic, a company that continues to develop innovative medical devices.
In 2015, Bakken created the Lau Hawaiʻi Fund in the JABSOM Department of Native Hawaiian Health to increase the number of physicians on Hawai`i Island from rural, underserved and/or Native Hawaiian communities. It has allowed select ʻImi Hoʻōla Post-Baccalaureate students to complete rural rotations on Hawaiʻi Island, permitted first and second year medical students to mentor middle and high school students and UH Hilo undergraduates, and enabled select third-year medical students to complete six-month longitudinal rotations on Hawai‘i Island, to introduce them to clinical practice there in the hope they will choose to return to practice after completing residency.