Alfred University recently hosted its annual Feinstein-Friedman Panel on Careers and Employment in Healthcare, an opportunity for undergraduate students to learn more about possible career paths in the healthcare field.
Three friends of the university formed the panel, offering insights into healthcare careers: alumna Kelly Knee ’99, senior director of translational medicine at Weaver Biosciences; Dr. Rae-Ellen Kavey, a retired pediatric cardiologist and current member of the Rochester Academy of Medicine; and Robin Govanlu, chief of behavioral health at Oak Orchard Health.
They joined the original sponsors of the annual panel, Dr. F. Ronald Feinstein ’67 and Lester Friedman ’67.
The five shared a common message: Healthcare has become the single largest employer and fastest-growing industry in the United States. Moreover, the field is diverse with a wide range of fields and specialties within the healthcare umbrella.
Alfred University Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry Geoff Lippa, who serves as chairperson for the University’s Pre-Health Advisory Committee, echoed the group’s themes, noting the modern field of healthcare requires a broader flexibility than in the past.
“You should expect the unexpected as you enter this field,” Lippa said. “Don’t just think healthcare professions are limited to pharmacology, or doctorates in medicine or osteopathy. It’s good to be flexible and take on as many experiences as you can.”
Lippa noted Alfred University’s pre-health program offers valuable opportunities for students to gain experience and try out leadership roles through volunteer programs and campus clubs such as the Pre-Health Club. The latter association, he said, recruits members from across the university. Pre-health students also are encouraged to become involved in their communities – “as change makers, which aligns with the idea of leadership,” according to Lippa.
The founders of the healthcare panel, Feinstein ’67 and Friedman ’67 have been supporting the annual event for the past five years, according to Lippa.
Feinstein, a former member of Alfred University’s Board of Trustees, served as an assistant medical director at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in West Los Angeles, establishing the Surgical and Support Departments Service Line and then leading its twenty-three clinical departments. He currently is a clinical professor of surgery in the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and adjunct professor in the Healthcare Systems Engineering Program at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Friedman, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in English from Syracuse University, is professor emeritus of media and society, and former chair of the Media and Society program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He also taught cinema studies at Syracuse, Northwestern, and American Universities, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago, health humanities and bioethics at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, and the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
