David Bjorkman, MD ’80, MSPH, SM
Distinguished Alumni Award
David Bjorkman, MD ’80, MSPH, SM, was a pillar within the University of Utah School of Medicine (now Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine) for more than 30 years—highly regarded for his contributions as a scholar, educator, clinician, and administrator. In 2020, Bjorkman retired from his post as interim chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, having worked diligently to expand the department’s clinical, research, and academic missions, as well as championing many faculty- and staff-led initiatives.
In 1980, Bjorkman was part of a cohort of 100 students to graduate from the School of Medicine. He recalls being a “pretty typical med student” in a close-knit class of talented, ambitious peers—two of which included Wayne Samuelson, MD ’80, a pulmonologist and former dean of medical education at the School of Medicine, and Elder Dale Renlund, a former cardiologist and current apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Upon graduation, Bjorkman moved to Boston to complete his internship, residency, and fellowship in gastroenterology at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was pleased when, in 1985, the University of Utah gave him the most competitive offer to return and join the faculty of the School of Medicine.
“I loved my colleagues and the people who ran the programs there [at Harvard], but I was happy to come back to Utah,” he said. “I was back to the collaborative environment that I loved.”
In the early years of his tenure at the U, Bjorkman worked hard to establish his expertise in endoscopy. He was appointed the university’s director of endoscopy, and he served as a leader in several national and international societies of gastroenterology. Even as he began to take on more administrative roles at the university, he scheduled one day a week in clinic to perform endoscopies.
“Seeing this place grow in the 50 years since I graduated medical school, well, it’s like watching your kids grow up. It’s truly been a labor of love.”
“It was important to me to maintain my identity as a practicing clinician,” he said. “But it was also important because when faculty would get a note on an endoscopic procedure, they’d see my name on it and say, ‘Hey, he knows what it’s like.’”
Bjorkman’s reputation as someone who understood the business side of medicine grew during this time. After earning two master’s degrees—one in public health/health services administration from the University of Utah and another in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health—he was appointed the senior associate dean of the School of Medicine by Senior Vice President of Health Sciences Lorris Betz.
In this role, Bjorkman helped to form and served as executive director of the University of Utah Medical Group, which today consists of more than 1,600 providers whose mission is to transform health care by implementing value-driven strategies, innovating new standards of practice, and integrating patient-centered care.
When Betz retired in 2011, Bjorkman left the university to lead the development of the new medical school at Florida Atlantic University, where he served as dean for the next five years. Betz returned to the U in an interim capacity in 2017 and asked Bjorkman to assume a new leadership position as interim chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. This placement proved to be a wise choice on Betz’s part, as Bjorkman’s deep administrative knowledge helped the School of Medicine and University of Utah Hospital weather a severe revenue shortfall at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bjorkman has much to be proud of in a career that spans more than 35 years but, to him, the highlight has been the lifelong relationships he has built with those who have grown the university into the world-class institution it is today.
“I have given my heart and soul to this place, and I am very grateful for this honor,” he said. “But I also feel like I don’t deserve it because so many other amazing people did the hard work. Seeing this place grow in the 50 years since I graduated medical school, well, it’s like watching one of your kids grow up. It’s truly been a labor of love.”