2023 Alumnus of the Year Talks Healthcare Careers with Health Science Students
Leading into the 2023 Homecoming Weekend, this year’s Alumnus of the Year Robin Ferrer ’00 returned to his home and school and paid a special visit to the Health Sciences classroom to share his life and career experience and advice with students currently in the Health Science Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway.
Now a system vice president of emergency services for Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, his passion and interest in a career in the healthcare field was first discovered in a Health Occupations class he took at MHS. Since that first introduction, his career has spanned the healthcare industry beginning with earning a college degree in nursing and taking his first job as a registered nurse.
“When you get someone who is sick and you start working on them and see their health turn around, that is an incredible life experience that you will not experience anywhere else,” said Ferrer. “Healthcare is a unique opportunity to make an impact on the world—and the world needs more people who want to make an impact.”
Ferrer made the transition from bedside to leadership in the healthcare space because he knew, with his skillset and his ambition, that would be the way he could help even more patients.
“As a bedside nurse, I would see things that could be improved or could be more efficient. I would do everything possible to help the patients I served and was going to be the best nurse I could be,” described Ferrer. “However, if I am working bedside there is only one patient I can help at a time. I’d like to think that in my position today, we are helping hundreds of patients every day with the decisions that we make as a leadership team.”
During his time with the students, he emphasized the importance of teamwork being an important aspect of anyone going into the healthcare field. Skills that MHS students are developing in the classroom, student home, and through authentic work experiences now that will benefit them greatly in the future.
“The opportunities, the people you have to support and encourage you, and the values—like work ethic—you are developing here at MHS are putting you in the position to succeed,” added Ferrer, “Now you have to do everything you can to position yourself to be successful.”
Throughout the visit, Ferrer answered questions about work-life balance, advice on how to get into and succeed in nursing school, and the future of healthcare. He also shared that he is not done advancing in his career and looks forward to starting his doctorate program and his goal of becoming a hospital president or CEO.
“When I was a student, I was in their shoes, trying to figure out whether not this was the right thing for me,” said Ferrer. “That’s what I saw today. The students had great questions, others have already formulated what they want to do. Hopefully our time together shed light on the current landscape in healthcare, what some of the opportunities are, how they can also get there.”
Learn More about Robin Ferrer ’00Learn More about the MHS Health Sciences Career Pathway