History of Hawaii Neurosurgery
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The history of neurosurgery begins with the name of Hawaii's first full time neurosurgeon, Dr. Ralph Bingham Cloward. He was brought to Hawaii as a child by his father along with the rest of his family on military assignment. His father was an Army ear, nose, and throat specialist. Dr. Ralph B. Cloward left Hawaii as an undergraduate transfer from the Univ. of Hawaii to complete college and medical school on the mainland USA. He returned to Hawaii to live and practice as a neurosurgeon in 1938. When the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor, Dr. Cloward found himself right in the middle of things as the only neurosurgeon in the South Pacific. Even though he was a civilian, he operated on an emergency basis for three days straight in the military's Tripler Army Hospital. The author, Dr. Bernard Robinson, moved to Hawaii while Dr. Cloward was still operating. They were cordial fellow colleagues and a deficit in the neurosurgical history of Hawaii led Dr. Robinson to fill the void with this book, "History of Hawaii Neurosurgery". With few exceptions, Dr. Robinson knew almost all of the neurosurgeons from Dr. Cloward's time to the date of publication of this manuscript. The evolution of Hawaii neurosurgery continues. Future history should be a much easier to record as a continuum or an enhancement of the "History of Hawaii Neurosurgery"
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About the Book
The History of Hawaii Neurosurgery is a relatively comprehensive treatise describing the evolution of the availability neurosurgical care in Hawaii. This history began before Hawaii became the fiftieth state of the USA and ends in the year 2021 when the book was published. It is an interesting story for those who like history and those needing a reference on the subject of Hawaii’s neurosurgical history.
About the Author
Dr. Bernard Robinson was the first Afro-American neurosurgeon trained by the USA military. His first assignment as a neurosurgeon was Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. His wife and he elected to live in Hawaii where he met and befriended Dr. Ralph B. Cloward, Hawaii’s first neurosurgeon. Dr. Robinson also interacted in some way with most of Hawaii’s neurosurgeons. When he became president of the Hawaii Medical Association in 2016, he sought more information regarding the history of Hawaii neurosurgery. Finding negligible information on the subject, he realized that he was best equipped to research and write the history of Hawaii’s military and civilian neurosurgical history since they were significantly intertwined. Dr. Robinson also published a prior history of the personal lives of his family called “Two Ropes”. Dr. Robinson retired from active neurosurgical practice in 2016 and currently resides with his wife in Hawaii.