UH physician recognized for medical and community service

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
Jennifer Nachbur, (802) 656-7575
College of Medicine Medical Alumni Association
Posted: Aug 5, 2005


BURLINGTON, Vt. - Frederick Burkle, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of public health sciences and epidemiology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at UH Mānoa, recently received the Award for Service to Medicine and Community from the University of Vermont College of Medicine's Medical Alumni Association. Burkle received the award in recognition of his extraordinary work in disaster management and humanitarian assistance throughout the world, as well as his exemplary military service.

The award is presented to graduates who have maintained a high standard of medical service and who have achieved an outstanding record of community service or assumed other significant responsibilities in addition to their medical practice.

"We are extremely proud of Dr. Burkle‘s achievement," said Carol Waslien, chair of the department of public health sciences and epidemiology. "His expertise and training in disaster management is an invaluable resource to us at the school and we are honored to have him as part of the department."

Burkle earned his medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1965. He recently served as senior scholar, scientist and visiting professor at the Center for International Emergency, Disaster and Refugee Studies at Johns Hopkins University, is the former Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the State Department and is founder of the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance of the World Health Organization.

During combat tours in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, Burkle served as senior medical officer in Iraq on the Disaster Assistance Response Team for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance USAID, and as the interim minister of health in Iraq.

After earning his medical degree, Burkle served residencies in pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Yale University. He holds graduate degrees from Yale, Dartmouth, the University of California at Berkeley, as well as a diploma from the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Qualified in pediatrics, adolescent medicine, emergency medicine and psychiatry, Burkle is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has published over 120 articles and book chapters, as well as four textbooks including the definitive reference on disaster medicine.

About the John A. Burns School of Medicine
The John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaiʻi teaches and trains high-quality physicians, biomedical scientists, and allied health workers for Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Its major purpose is to provide an opportunity for a medical education previously unavailable to residents of Hawaiʻi and other Pacific nations. For more information, visit http://hawaiimed.hawaii.edu.