Daniel Federman


Daniel David Federman, MD was an American endocrinologist and a Carl W. Walter Distinguished Professor of Medicine and the Dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. He had helped change medical education at through its New Pathway curriculum around the early 1990s, and his work helped create the field of genetic endocrinology. He also worked for over thirty years from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital in the Longwood Medical Area.
Before he was Dean for Medical Education, he had served as Dean for Students and Alumni. He later became Senior Dean for Alumni Relations and Clinical Teaching.
He was also an endocrinologist specializing in diabetes and hormones and practicing clinical medicine in Brookline, Massachusetts.
After he retired in Spring 2007 and was succeeded by Edward M. Hundert, he served in Miami, Florida for over six years at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.

Education

Dr. Federman was born in New York City in 1928, the son of European immigrants who settled in the Bronx. He was graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1949 and magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1953. Following an internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, he became a clinical associate at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Disease where, under the guidance of Ed Rall, he studied the effects of androgens on thyroid function, thyroxine metabolism, and thyroxine-binding protein. In 1957, he began a two-year clinical research fellowship with Sir Edward Pochin at the University College Hospital Medical School, London, pioneering in the use of radioactive iodine for the treatment of thyroid cancer. Following his time in London, he returned to HMS and the MGH and worked his way up the ranks, becoming chief of the endocrine unit at the MGH in 1964, assistant chief of medical services at the MGH in 1967, associate professor of medicine at HMS and physician at the MGH in 1970, and associate chairman of medicine in 1971. During this period, Dr. Federman produced his classic text, , which has been credited as bringing order to a hitherto disorganized field.
In 1973, Dr. Federman was recruited to become physician-in-chief and chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University.
He authored at least 379 biomedical research articles published in refereed publications.
From 2000 to 2007, Federman was senior dean for alumni relations and clinical teaching at HMS, mentoring medical education developments through innovative initiatives.
After his retirement from Harvard Medical School at the end of 2007, when he was succeeded by Edward M. Hundert, he taught in Miami, Florida for over six years at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.
His most recent topics reflectively expressed his broad and humane interests: “Protecting Research Participants”, “The physician’s responsibility toward hopelessly ill patients”, “The endocrine patient”, and “The education of medical students: sounds, alarms, and excursions”.

Personal life

While Federman was a medical student doing a three-month clerkship in medicine, he met his wife Elizabeth Buckley, who was head nurse - the youngest head nurse ever - at Massachusetts General Hospital. MGH Trustees needed to vote to allow Betty to work in that role, since she was only 22 at the time. He later commented that he could not learn everything she had to teach him in her role there.
As Dean for Medical Education of Harvard Medical School, he handed his daughter her diploma at her HMS graduation.
He was an avid sailor who also enjoyed a wide array of musical styles - he loved opera and was an accomplished square dance caller. He was proud of narrating Peter and the Wolf for The Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the volunteer non-profit orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts and composed of medical professionals.
He often taught think out loud, stick to the basics, and be kind as key 'fundamentals' in medical education.
His wife Betty passed on November 14, 2008. She had been born in Nashua, NH, the daughter of Charles and Mary Buckley and had a brother Charles Buckley.
They had two daughters: Lise Ann Federman Mann of Belmont, who had studied health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health and later studied patient advocacy at University of Miami while her father taught there in a post-retirement career, and Carolyn Federman-Zaucha, MD, and son-in-law Albert of Chicago; three grandchildren: Daniel, Julia and Michael; and cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Honors

Harvard Medical School:
Medical education:
He authored at least 67 works in 207 publications in 4 languages and 7,370 library holdings and continued publishing in refereed journals until at least 2011.