Health & Fitness

Honing Physicians

Jewish values help drive founding dean of OU/Beaumont medical school.

Ilene Wolff

Special to the Jewish News

D

r. Robert Folberg, through an act
of chesed by the parents of a 19-
year-old woman who died in an
auto accident, received a cornea transplant
when he was 19 years old. He had lost
vision in his left eye to progressive corneal
degeneration.
The incident was life-changing for him
in more ways than one.
"That kind of clinched it, that I wanted
to be a physician',' he says. "There are times
that I am conscious of the gift that I received
and I reflect on the fact that I can see the
world through another's eyes quite literally"
Folberg — founding dean of the Oakland
University William Beaumont School of
Medicine — tries to incorporate Jewish val-
ues into his professional life as an educator,
researcher and practicing physician.
Folberg splits his time between an
office at OU and one on the third floor of
Beaumont's administration building on
its Royal Oak campus. He spends his days
tending to the details of opening a medical
school that anticipates enrolling its first
class of 50 students after receiving provi-
sional accreditation.
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime
he says. "No one wants to create a medical
school that's ordinary:'
Folberg was chosen after a stringent
vetting process. He had the right vision,
academic background and administra-
tive experience, says Jeffrey Maisels, M.D.,
chairman of pediatrics at Beaumont.
"There's no formula for being a dean, so
it's a question whether you think the per-
son has the basic capabilities and the lead-
ership qualities to move a place forward:'
says Maisels. "We found those attributes in
Bob Folberg."
Folberg envisions a curriculum that
threads the basic sciences throughout all
four years of the medical student's educa-

Name: Robert
Folberg, M.D.
Titles: Dean, Oakland
University William
Beaumont School of
Medicine; professor of
biomedical sciences,
pathology and
ophthalmology, OU; chief academic
officer, Beaumont Hospitals.

Dr. Robert Folberg, at podium, addresses the crowd during a press conference

in July to announce his appointment as dean of the Oakland University William
Beaumont School of Medicine. Also pictured are, from left: Kenneth Matzick,
president and CEO of Beaumont Hospitals; L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County

executive; Gary Russi, president, Oakland University; and Virinder K. Moudgil,
senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, Oakland University.

tion. A unique program — the medical
learning community — will find a student
reviewing basic concepts alongside the
Beaumont doctor who is the student's
clinical mentor in the latter years of medi-
cal school.
"That will give medical students a bet-
ter understanding of the basic sciences
and how to apply what they've learned
when treating patients:' says Jim Grant,
M.D., chairman of Beaumont's anesthesi-
ology department.
Folberg obviously enjoys telling stories
and talking about his vision for the school.
His eyes really light up when he describes
a conversation at a dinner with Beaumont
leaders that elicited a question that
"wow'ed" him.
Beaumont cardiologist David Forst,
M.D., asked: "How do you teach a medical
student to be kind?"
Folberg says: "So one of the things you

Age: 58
Home: Birmingham
Family: wife Amy, a Ph.D. in
mathematics; daughter Abigail,
23, who is in a master's program
studying operatic vocal performance
at Roosevelt University in Chicago;
and son Ephraim, 20, a junior studying
international relations at Michigan
State University. The Folbergs

have to teach is how to be a mentsh, and
that's actually part of the curriculum we're
developing."
A visual reminder of that thought will
be a wall plaque, a gift from a former col-
league in Chicago. The plaque will be the
first thing students and visitors see when
they step into the dean's office.
Its inscription embodies Folberg's
vision: "Kindness is the most important
lesson taught here."

Reaching To Israel
Folberg's research on eye cancer has
received funding from the National
Institutes of Health for 20 years. He is recog-
nized for his work in ophthalmic pathology,
administration, education and research,
both nationally and internationally.
His many endeavors include teaching
Beaumont ophthalmology residents (doc-
tors-in-training) in a long-distance learn-

celebrated their 25th wedding
anniversary in November.
Synagogue: Adat Shalom, Farmington
Hills
Education/Certification: M.D., Temple
University School of Medicine; B.A. in
biology, LaSalle College (now LaSalle
University), both in Philadelphia. Dual
certifications in ophthalmology and
pathology.

ing program for the past seven years.
In addition to Beaumont, Folberg has
a longtime relationship with Hadassah-
Hebrew University Medical School in
Israel. He has written more than 30
research publications with Hadassah fac-
ulty members during the last 17 years, and
has taught there on multiple occasions.
His collaboration with Jacob Pe'er,
chairman of ophthalmology and associa-
tion dean at Haddasah, made it possible
for the new OU medical school to borrow
from the Hadassah curriculum — Adam
v'Refuah — Man and Medicine, to form
the core of its new medical humanities
curriculum.
The first publication to originate from
the new medical school was a paper that
he co-authored with Pe'er that appeared
in the November issue of Investigative
Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

Welcome To Michigan
Folberg and his wife, Amy, moved from
Chicago to a 1941 Cape Cod home in
Birmingham after he was appointed dean
in July. He had been Frances B. Geever pro-
fessor of pathology; head of the pathology
department; and professor of ophthalmol-
ogy and visual science at the University of
Illinois at Chicago.
The Folbergs are steadily getting to
know the Detroit area. They're interested
in the West Bloomfield-based Jewish
Ensemble Theatre, the Detroit Symphony
and the Detroit Opera Theatre where they
hope to see Carmen this spring. They had
been supporters of the Chicago Opera
Theater and the Chicago Lyric Opera.
The couple find the Detroit area wel-
coming.
"People are very friendly, open and out-
going:' says Amy Folberg, who is a busi-
ness analyst with Beaumont Hospitals. El

Ilene Wolff is a member of the media relations
staff at Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak.

Former positions: Most recently
Frances B. Geever professor of
pathology; head, department
of pathology; and professor of
ophthalmology and visual science,
University of Illinois at Chicago.
Previous faculty appointments at
University of Iowa; Thomas Jefferson
University (Philadelphia).

February 12 • 2009

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