During his days at Duke, David L. Feldman, T'80, MD'84, HS'89-'92, says he was afforded opportunities he's pretty sure he wouldn't have gotten anywhere else.

 

One such opportunity came about during his third year of medical school when he was able to create an elective in health services research. He spent two months in 1983 working alongside plastic surgeons at a burn center at Soroka Medical Center at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel .

 

“It was such a unique opportunity,” he says. “I had the freedom to explore.”

 

Today a plastic surgeon and hospital administrator, Feldman knows the influence such unique experiences can have on students and their future careers. He hopes his new role as Duke Medical Alumni Association president will give him the chance to help further enhance experiences for current and future medical students, as well as alumni.

 

Feldman, who first joined the Medical Alumni Council in 1997, plans to encourage more alumni to get involved with the association, particularly through local groups in cities across the country. He also hopes to get more alumni to participate in reunions and other events held on Duke's campus.

 

Feldman says getting involved with the alumni association is as beneficial to students as it is to alumni. Events sponsored by the association, such as the student-alumni networking event Entrée, which is held each fall, allows “students to see what their predecessors have done. It can be inspirational.”

 

Heavily involved in a number of activities as a student, including serving as a student representative for the Medical Alumni Association, Feldman remembers being inspired by many alumni, faculty members, and residents. Among his mentors he lists David Sabiston, Jr., MD, legendary surgery chairman; Kenneth McCarty, MD, pathology professor; and Douglas Packer, MD, HS'85 , who was one of the residents Feldman admired.

 

Currently Feldman is vice president of perioperative services and vice chairman of the Department of Surgery at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn , N.Y. He spends much of his time running the operating rooms and overseeing the OR budget for the 700-bed hospital. He practices plastic surgery one day a week.

 

He says he finds the variety offered in his job to be very rewarding and wants to share that with students. “I like the ability to be a physician executive and being able to understand both the patient care side and the administrative side.”

 

Many students may not be fully aware of administrative career options, and Feldman hopes he and other alumni in similar fields can serve as mentors. He and Davison Club President Richard A. Sarner, T'79, MD'83 , have plans to lead a session on alternative career choices during next fall's Medical Alumni Weekend.

 

Outside of the Medical Alumni Association, Feldman's other Duke activities include conducting interviews for undergraduate and medical school admissions and serving as a mentor to students in the New York area through the Sandra Tuthill Scholarship Program.

An avid swimmer, Feldman likes to spend his free time working out in a local masters swim program and competing in ocean swims in the summer.

 

Feldman and his wife Debra live in Scotch Plains , N.J. They have three children: Samantha, a junior at Oberlin College , Zachary, a freshman at New York University , and Jessica, a high school junior.