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Lafayette’s new David K. McDonogh Health Professions Society, an organization of alumni supporting students interested in pursuing careers in the health professions, will hold its inaugural dinner at 6 p.m., Saturday, April 28, in the Faculty Dining Room, Marquis Hall.
Reservations are free for Lafayette seniors in the health professions. Call June Thompson, (610) 330-5521, by Wednesday, April 25.
“One of the great benefits of Lafayette is the strong support of its alumni. Now this support will focus more sharply on the health professions,” says Alan Childs, health professions adviser and associate professor of psychology. “Schools that have the most success in getting students into health programs around the country have strong alumni involvement in attracting outstanding students, mentoring them, and helping them in their careers.”
“Our dedicated alumni will support the students in various ways, including mentoring, offering internship and externship opportunities, serving as guest speakers, and participating in campus events on topical issues that bring together alumni, students, faculty, and national figures,” says John Leone, Lafayette’s director of alumni affairs.
The Health Professions Society is named after David K. McDonogh, a former slave who earned a bachelor of arts degree from Lafayette in 1844.
The keynote speaker will be Ronald H. Fishbein, M.D., associate professor emeritus of surgery and assistant dean of pre-professional programs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A member of Lafayette’s Class of 1953, Fishbein will speak on “Professionalism and ‘The Master Clinician’: An Early Learning Experience.”
Fishbein was a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, as well as attending surgeon at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, from 1965-96. He served as assistant dean for admissions at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1971-76 and was associate professor of surgery from 1978-1997. He is an advisor for the university’s Rhodes Scholar Program and chairman of the Health Professions Recommendations Committee.
Fishbein received the Premier Physician Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation in 1994, and joined the Golden Key Society in 2000. He also was honored with the Community Service Award from the Baltimore City Medical Society Foundation in 2000.
Fishbein has had more than 30 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He has written another dozen in other publications, including a co-written article with his wife for the Winter, 1996, Lafayette College Alumni Journal on “Thomas Craig: Pioneer in Graduate Education.”
After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Lafayette, Fishbein earned his M.D. from Yale Medical School in 1957. Along the way, he received a James Hudson Brown Memorial Fellowship for 1954-56. Fishbein did his internship at Grace-New Haven Community Hospital in New Haven, Conn., from 1957-58, and his residency at the Baltimore City Hospitals in Baltimore, Md., as assistant resident from 1958-62, and as chief resident from 1962-63. He received a Maryland Heart Association Fellowship for 1960-61.
Fishbein served at Kimbrough Army Hospital, Fort Meade, Md., from 1963-65. He was part of the Department of Defense Bioastronautic Task Force for Project Gemini Support, U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace, at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Tex. in 1963, and with Department of Defense Medical Support Operations in 1965.
Fishbein was chairman of the board of directors for the Baltimore City Medical Society Foundation from 1976-1979, and served on its board from 1975-97. For the Medical Chirurgical Faculty of MD, he was chairman of its Library and History Committee from 1990-99, of its Bicentennial Committee from 1992-1999, and of its Scientific Affairs Council from 1995-99. He served on the board of trustees for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America from 1990-2000, and has been on its Medical Advisory Committee since 1988, serving as chairman from 1990-92. He is on the board of trustees and executive committee of the Maryland Academy of Science, and serves as chairman of its Strategic Planning and Program Committees. He also serves on its Scientific Council and Development Committee. In addition, he is on the Professional Advisory Board of The Wellness Community-Baltimore.