Inside LDI: Spotlight on Nick Hakes
Inside LDI takes a closer look at the emerging physician leaders shaping the future of medicine through the AMA Foundation’s Leadership Development Institute.
Nick Hakes at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, where he specialized in negotiations following his second year of medical school.
Nick Hakes did not come to medicine by a straight line. He grew up inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, surrounded by trails, quiet, and an environment that rewards calm when conditions change. From wilderness rescue to the emergency department, Nick has been drawn to the systems that protect people in crisis.
A fourth-year medical student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Nick is pursuing emergency medicine with a focus on health policy and systems reform. He brings to that goal an academic path that reflects both curiosity and intention. At Stanford University, he studied philosophy with a concentration in medical ethics, grounding his interest in medicine in questions of dignity, responsibility, and how institutions shape outcomes.
That focus has followed him into the real world. Nick founded the Compassion Closet, a nonprofit organization created to ensure patients leave the emergency department with dignity. The program provides clothing to trauma and emergency patients in need, addressing a practical gap that can become a lasting hardship for people already navigating crisis. Today, Compassion Closet operates in hospitals across 25 states.
After his second year of medical school, Nick attended the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, where he specialized in negotiations, adding an operational lens to his clinical training. His long-term goal is to keep one foot in patient care while devoting the other to strengthening emergency care systems for patients who face barriers to timely support.
Remarkably, Nick’s experience also includes national public service. He has completed search and rescue work for the National Park Service at Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and now serves as an Emergency Services Policy Advisor for the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC. From frontline response to federal policy, this work has given Nick a rare view into the operational infrastructure behind emergency care.
His next step is turning experience into influence.
“I hope to translate frontline insights into scalable reforms that improve emergency care systems.”
“This year, I am eager to gain the policy fluency, advocacy training, and mentorship necessary to translate frontline insights into scalable reforms that improve emergency care systems,” Nick said. “Through the LDI, I aim to sharpen my ability to navigate federal policymaking, strengthen my advocacy on behalf of vulnerable patients, and learn from physician leaders who have shaped national policy.”
The AMA Foundation is proud to support students like Nick, whose work reflects a commitment to patients that extends far beyond the bedside.
Applications for the Leadership Development Institute are now open. Apply today and join the next generation of physician leaders.