Alumni Spotlight: Steven Feinberg, MD ’72, Finds Joy in Helping Others

“I can’t even begin to tell you how joyful it is to make a difference in other people’s lives,” says Steven Feinberg, MD ’72, an adjunct clinical professor at Stanford University and founder of the Feinberg Medical Group. “There is a true sense of satisfaction and joy in being a physician.”

As the recipient of this year’s Lauds & Laurels Distinguished Alumni Award for the UC Irvine School of Medicine, Feinberg was recognized for his decades of work as a well-respected physiatrist and pain medicine specialist.

Whether serving as lead author on a guide to chronic pain management, acting as an expert reviewer for the Medical Board of California and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or building a multidisciplinary medical practice offering high-quality treatment focused on workers’ compensation, Feinberg always emphasizes the human connection.

“I love the ability to sit down with another human being and figure out what is going on,” he says. “As physicians, we fail miserably when we do not recognize the emotional components of why an individual presents [an ailment or disease] the way they do.”

Feinberg’s Path to Pain Specialist

Feinberg was drawn to the field of medicine at a young age, as a medical problem at birth resulted in him spending quite a bit of time in the hospital as a child. “Because of that, I always wanted to be a physician,” he says.

His plans hit a speedbump when it came time to apply to medical school. “I was a bright kid but didn’t always get the best grades in college, and I didn’t get into medical school the first year I applied,” he admits. But he tried again the following year and was accepted to UC Irvine.

He started out with an interest in family medicine and psychiatry, and received the senior medical student psychiatry award in 1972. Meeting Jerome Tobis, MD, head of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at the Orange County Medical Center, led to Feinberg serving as an “extern” in PMR his last two years of medical school. So, in addition to fulfilling his full clinical duties as a medical student, he would also do rounds in the rehabilitation unit, which housed 32 patients.

“This unique opportunity had me caring for very disabled individuals — those who had suffered from a brain injury, spinal cord injury or stroke, for example,” he says. That’s when he learned the importance of treating the whole person.

“During my PMR residency, I began to realize that it’s not enough to make a physical diagnosis, as there is often a major disconnect between pathology and disability,” he says. “This propelled me into pain medicine, where it is critical to differentiate the physical from the psychological and how they affect each other.”

Taking a “Whole Person” Approach

“It’s more important to know what kind of patient has the disease than what kind of disease the patient has,” says Feinberg, reciting an old saying attributed to several famous medical educators. This philosophy guides his approach to diagnosing and treating chronic pain.

“Sometimes it’s simple and [the problem] is directly related to the pathology,” he says, “but other times, particularly in the field of pain medicine, there are additional factors.”

One such factor is adverse childhood experiences, known to exacerbate a variety of health conditions. As an example, Feinberg recalls one former patient, a woman in her late 30s. “She had already seen orthopedists and neurosurgeons for chronic neck and back pain, so I sat down and asked about her childhood, and she started crying,” he says. “She didn’t need more physical therapy or any surgeries; it was really about getting some counseling. That resolved the problem.”

Feinberg also does a lot of treatment related to workers’ compensation. “We get a lot of people back to work, including police officers and firefighters,” he says, noting that while tests, medications and procedures are one side of medicine, the human side is the other.

“It’s amazing how effective this approach of treating the whole person can be. It’s a fascinating area, and one that I lecture a lot about,” says Feinberg, who still writes articles, teaches, counsels young physicians, and regularly gives lectures, including on how AI is another game-changer in medicine.

“My hobby is my work,” he admits. “I am still working at age 80 and loving it!”

He does, however, enjoy spending time with his family — he has four children and 11 grandchildren — and traveling around the world with his wife of 58 years. “I have truly been blessed.”

Giving Back

Feinberg also enjoys sharing his blessings with others. He and his wife have pledged more than $1 million to the UC Irvine School of Medicine and recently established the Feinberg Family Medical Student Scholarship Endowment.

“Steven Feinberg is not only a source of pride for the UC Irvine School of Medicine as one of the world’s leading physicians in pain medicine, but he has also made a significant impact through his regular donations to the school, which began with his first gift in 2006,” says Dean Michael J. Stamos, MD. “His and Mrs. Feinberg’s recent establishment of the Feinberg Family Medical Student Scholarship Endowment will transform the lives of our future doctors.”

Feinberg invites others to join him in removing financial barriers to becoming a doctor, broadening access to the field. “My hope is that the School of Medicine gets to a spot where they have enough endowments that no one pays tuition,” he says. “I have been very successful in what I’ve done, and it’s because of UCI. I’m just giving back.”

Interested in donating to the UC Irvine School of Medicine? Visit the areas to give webpage.