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Dr. David Fett and Randi Fett
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Dr. David Fett and Randi Fett: Supporting Ophthalmic Fellowship Training
Looking across their urban garden filled with berries, vegetables, and fruit trees of every variety, David R. Fett, MD, and his wife Randi know firsthand that what you plant now, you will harvest later. This tenet is carried forward with their generous financial gift to the Jules Stein Eye Institute (JSEI) to provide fellowship training support for the next 10 years at least, under the auspices of Robert Alan Goldberg, MD, Chief of the Orbital and Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery Division, Director of the Orbital Disease Center, and Director of the Aesthetic Center.
The cost of fellowship training is increasingly expensive, and with the recent budget cuts, state-assisted schools like UCLA are especially vulnerable. Following discussions with Bartly J. Mondino, MD, Chairman of the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology and Director of JSEI,the Fetts established their gift out of awareness that academic medicine needs money. "UCLA has been severely impacted by the downturn in the economy, and it's harder to train doctors due to lack of funds. Money has to come from somewhere," says Dr. Fett. "It's imperative to give now."
Citing the quality of the residency training he received while at JSEI, Dr. Fett wants to provide a similar educational opportunity to others. He explains, "Randi and I want to do this so someone else can go to the best eye institute and the best ophthalmology training program in the country, if not the world."
An ophthalmic plastic surgeon with a thriving 25-year private practice in Los Angeles, the Fett Eyelid Center, Dr. Fett decided to pursue his specialty while still a resident at JSEI. Henry I. Baylis, MD, the Founding Chief of Orbital and Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, proffered him the sage advice given in The Graduate, "Plastics." Dr. Fett remains intimately affiliated with JSEI's comprehensive training program, teaching residents and fellows and giving courses for more than 25 years. In this role, he aspires to espouse the traits he experienced as a resident under the guidance of Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD, JSEI's Founding Director. "He was both a supportive and inspirational advisor," describes Dr. Fett.
The Fetts have a long-standing personal relationship with JSEI and UCLA. They met when David was the on-call resident at JSEI and Randi, a UCLA sophomore, arrived with an eye infection and David provided her care. Three of their four children were later born at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. More significantly, however, they count UCLA doctors as responsible for saving the life of their son when he was two days old and their daughter when she was 15 months old and of curing Randi of Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The Fetts dismiss the notion that these circumstances are specific to their family. "All of us are faced with challenges," says Randi, providing accounts of friends and acquaintances also helped by JSEI and UCLA. "We are all beneficiaries. It's our hospital, our community's hospital. It's our doctors, our community's doctors. This is our medical center, and it impacts all of our lives."
The Fetts believe it is a duty to contribute and make a difference, and they hope to inspire others to start the tradition of giving and then continue that tradition. "It is important for people to give back-and to give so it hurts a little," says Dr. Fett.
Randi and David Fett's generous gift and foresight help to provide the resources necessary to train the best and brightest fellows and allow JSEI to continue the tradition of excellence that has earned it worldwide recognition.
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