Keynote Speaker | Judith Tanenbaum, MD
Judith H. Tanenbaum, MD, has been a psychiatrist in private practice for almost 32 years. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell School of Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She has been honored by the bequest of the Betts-Tanenbaum Chair in Clinical Psychiatry, which will fund in perpetuity post-residency psychiatrists to further their study in clinical psychiatry.
In addition to her faculty position at Cornell, Dr. Tanenbaum carries out a variety of other roles at the school, including supervising a student-run psychiatric clinic, serving on the residency selection committee, mentoring medical students, and conducting mock interviews for students applying to psychiatry residency programs.
Dr. Tanenbaum completed the Columbia University Postbac Premed Program at the School of General Studies in 1983 and went on to earn her MD from Cornell University Medical College in 1988. She completed her psychiatry residency at the Payne Whitney Clinic of New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 1992.
Dr. Tanenbaum is a member of the General Studies Board of Visitors and previously served on the General Studies Leadership Volunteer Committee. She and her husband William Tanenbaum have endowed the Phyllis M. Kippur Memorial Scholarship for the Columbia Postbac Premed Program.
Student Speaker | Wesley Rivera
Wesley Rey Rivera is a second year postbaccalaureate premedical student from Orlando, Florida. After graduating from Harvard College in 2016, he began a career in management consulting and worked most recently as director of data analytics and consulting services at Mastercard. His pivot to medicine is inspired by his personal experience facing cancer, his sister’s journey with multiple sclerosis, and his passion to alleviate the emotional and existential suffering of those with chronic and terminal illnesses.
During his time at Columbia, Wesley served as the President of the Postbac Premed Student Council and conducted clinical research in psychedelic medicine at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry. Beyond academia, Wesley is a freelance landscape photographer and avid traveler alongside his wife, Sarah. Wesley will be preparing to apply to medical school this summer.
