Three accomplished professionals in the healthcare field will take part in a panel discussion of career opportunities in the industry. The annual Feinstein and Friedman Panel on Careers and Employment in Healthcare will be offered on Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on the Alfred University campus.
The panel discussion is a forum for those interested in learning about the diverse careers available in healthcare, and is open to Alfred University students, faculty, and staff, as well as the general public. It is co-sponsored by Alfred University alumni and classmates Dr. F. Ronald Feinstein ’67 and Lester Friedman ’67.
The event begins with dinner from 5:30-6 p.m. in the Knight Club, Powell Campus Center, followed by the panel discussion from 6-7:30 p.m. in Room 114 of Seidlin Hall. A dessert mixer will follow the discussion, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the Knight Club.
“Healthcare has become the single largest employer and fastest-growing industry in the United States,” said Geoff Lippa, associate professor of biology at Alfred University and an event organizer. He noted that the participating panelists possess experience in a wide variety of healthcare careers including management, research, medical product sales, and strategy and operations.
“The panel discussion is an open forum and anyone interested in learning more about careers in healthcare is welcome. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask your questions and develop your healthcare career network.”
Panelists for the event include:
Kelly Knee ’99, senior director of translational medicine at Weaver Biociences, a biotechnology company in Boston, MA, that specializes in small-molecule genetic medicine. Knee earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Alfred in 1999 and went on to receive her Ph.D. in molecular biology from Wesleyan University in 2007
Rae-Ellen Kavey, M.D., pediatric cardiology (retired), board member the Rochester Academy of Medicine. Kavey received her medical degree from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine and was in practice for more than 20 years.
Robin Govanlu, MS, LMHC, LPC, LAC, chief of behavioral health for Oak Orchard Health, a health center in Brockport, NY, that provides primary, pediatric, dental, behavioral health and vision care to patients. She has a master’s degree in mental health counseling from St. John Fisher University.
“The panel discussion is an open forum and anyone interested in learning more about careers in healthcare is welcome,” Lippa said. “There will be plenty of opportunities to ask your questions and develop your healthcare career network.”
Dr. F. Ronald Feinstein ’67 (B.A., biology) and Lester Friedman ’67 (B.A., English) sponsor the Feinstein and Friedman Panel on Careers in Healthcare.
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. During his 15-year tenure his leadership team initiated a steady series of coordinated team efforts aimed at improving overall business performance through delivery system redesign while overseeing the conduct of over 180,000 hospital-based surgeries.
He also served for 24 years as both chief of the Departments of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery for the Metro Los Angeles Service Area and as the inaugural regional chief of Plastic Surgery for The Southern California Permanente Medical Group’s 7,000 MDs. As regional chief, he led the establishment of six departments of plastic surgery that now cover Kaiser's 15 medical centers in Southern California caring for their current five million members.
Feinstein, who earned his DMD degree from the New Jersey College of Dentistry and Medicine in 1972, is 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; and health humanities and bioethics at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse and the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
The author, co-author, and editor of over 20 books, Friedman’s areas of academic specialties include: film genres, American cinema of the 1970s, American Jewish cinema, British film of the 1980s, and Health and Humanities. Additionally, he written books about Steven Spielberg, Arthur Penn, Peter Pan, Frankenstein, and Clint Eastwood. He has authored two screenplays that have been the basis of independent films directed by the award-winning visual artist Owen Shapiro. Friedman has won the National Jewish Book Award and is also a JEOPARDY! Champion.
To register to attend the event, please use the QR code in the image above. Those unable to attend in person can watch the panel discussion via Zoom.
