Richard Feins, M.D.’73, Anita Feins, M.D.’76, and Robert Feins, M.D.’78, cared for countless patients throughout their 30-year medical careers, ever cognizant that their parents’ support and encouragement had opened the door to their rewarding professional lives in service to others. 

“Our parents were solid, hardworking folks who valued family, education, and giving back to their community.” — Anita Feins, M.D.’76

Recognizing an opportunity to honor their parents’ integrity and values while supporting the medical school that had shaped them, Drs. Feins established the Ann and Melvin Feins Medical Education Scholarship to help gifted medical students with financial need gain access to the education their parents had made possible for them. 

“Our parents were solid, hardworking folks who valued family, education, and giving back to their community,” says Dr. Anita Feins. “Our father was a production manager at a hosiery mill, and our mother was a housewife who went on to earn a master’s degree and become a teacher. Both were first in their families to graduate from college. One summer, my younger brother, Bob, was involved in a serious accident. Rick, home on break from medical school, helped save his life. That was the central event that propelled me to go to medical school, and I only wanted to attend UVM.”

“I can’t tell you how much joy it has given us to honor our parents in this way.” — Richard Feins, M.D.’73

“Our parents didn’t care what I was, they cared who I was,” says Dr. Bob Feins. “They modeled: first be a mensch, an honorable human being, someone who is trustworthy and empathic and can be counted on to do the right thing. After that, they didn’t care what I did for a living. I was a science and math geek. I had my choice of more than one medical school, but it was my brother and sister’s experiences at UVM that pushed me in that direction.” 

“I spent my career in academic surgery and fundraising—although critical to the mission of an academic center, it has always been difficult for me,” says Dr. Rick Feins. “I discovered that there are many people who get tremendous joy from giving and are just waiting for the right opportunity to do so. UVM gave us that opportunity with the Ann and Melvin Feins Medical Education Scholarship. I can’t tell you how much joy it has given us to honor our parents in this way.”

When we asked the Feins if they had a message for their scholarship recipients, they said, “There will be times in your medical career when the right thing to do may not be readily obvious. When those times come, rely on the fundamental guideline that UVM taught us: Do what is best for your patient, regardless of any other consideration, and you will never go wrong.”

“Our parents didn’t care what I was, they cared who I was.” — Robert Feins, M.D.’78

To honor a loved one and help fuel excellence in medical education, contact Lindsay Budnik, Lindsay.Budnik@med.uvm.edu, (802) 233-1206 (mobile).