The good Cornellians can do: Dr. Samara Friedman ’97

In summer 1992, Samara Friedman '97 attended a Cornell program for high school students. In her biology seminar, a visiting surgeon showed the class a video of a laproscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal).

“I knew immediately upon seeing that video that I needed to be a surgeon,” Samara says. “After that day, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind.”

Now, 30 years later, Samara is a practicing pediatric orthopedic surgeon. In the spirit of paying it forward, Samara volunteers her time to talk about her practice with high school students.

Samara volunteers at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, as part of the center’s “Live From Surgery” program. The center has filmed a few of Samara’s surgeries, and, every month, she speaks to groups of students about her work.

Students attend in person from New Jersey and New York, and they tune in virtually from schools across the country, as well as internationally.

Samara enjoys fielding the students’ questions—which range from how surgeons learn to do surgery, to what she would do if she wasn’t a doctor. Samara shares her answer to that question:

“I never really considered any other possibility,” she says, “other than a brief period of time around age 6, when I considered being both a doctor and an astronaut.”

She hears from teachers that their students talk about her presentation for days afterwards, and that some (especially girls) are inspired to pursue their dreams of becoming a doctor.

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