A doctor must take a patient’s disease and explain it and its consequences to the patient in terms he or she can understand, Federman says.

A Longtimer at Longwood

Federman served on the HMS faculty from 1960 to 1972, when he defected to Stanford University. In 1977, then-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Daniel Tosteson recruited Federman back from Stanford as the Dean for Students and Alumni. It was in this capacity that Federman played a crucial role in redesigning of medical education with the New Pathway program.

New Pathway is a problem-based approached to medical education introduced in the 1980s.

Over the years, his personal touch has endeared him to both students and alums and his current job includes both fundraising and guiding students through their years of medical school.

He is a strong presence in students’ lives, from orientation, through a required first-year course in genetics, embryology and reproduction, to students’ first experience with a patient.

“He was a important thread through their education,” Associate Dean for Student Affairs Nancy E. Oriol.

His close relationship with students explains his persistent popularity at Class Day.

“The letter [from the students] inviting me told me about my impact on them at their orientation. I was thrilled to be asked,” Federman says.

Still Going Strong

For the past two years, Federman has served as the senior dean for alumni relations and clinical teaching, a post that stretches his time thin.

“I’m too busy as a result of these things, but so far it’s working out,” he says.

One of his current projects, which he is pursuing with Director of Alumni Development Eric C. Graage, focuses on decreasing the financial burden of medical education.

“We’re trying to raise support for student financial aid to free up their career choices,” Graage says. “Even for those who go into standard clinical work, the compensation is not what it used to be.”

Federman’s long tenure at HMS gives him a special relationship with alum donors he once taught.