St. Luke’s University Health Network has announced the appointment of new Senior Associate Dean Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD, to oversee the administrative and educational responsibilities of St. Luke’s regional medical school campus, Temple-St. Luke’s School of Medicine.

Dr. Eldakar-Hein suceeds Joel Rosenfeld, MD, as senior associate dean of Temple-St. Luke’s School of Medicine.

Dr. Rosenfeld is to retire after more than 33 years at St. Luke’s.

Rosenfeld played a key role in the development of the Lehigh Valley’s only regional medical school campus.

In 2008, Dr. Rosenfeld proposed the concept of a regional medical school campus with Temple University and led the efforts towards its creation in 2010.

Dr. Eldakar-Hein, a graduate of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, said she is excited to partner with her alma-mater and leaders at St. Luke’s.

“I look forward to serving the community by helping to ‘grow’ future physicians. There truly is nothing better than that,” said Dr. Eldakar-Hein. “I love giving people that ‘a-ha’ moment, when what they are learning just clicks.”

Dr. Eldakar-Hein joins St. Luke’s from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont where she was assistant dean for students and the associate residency program director of internal medicine.

Dr. Eldakar-Hein, a consulting ethicist, said, “Ethics is woven throughout every component of health care and it’s critical to educate tomorrow’s physicians to not only excel clinically, but to use ethics as their touchstone.”

Dr. Eldakar-Hein, a native of Endicott, N.Y., received an undergrad degree from The Pennsylvania State University. She and her family, husband Nick and kids Kaidin, 13, and Anaya, 10, are looking forward to becoming residents of the Lehigh Valley.

Dr. Rosenfeld, overseeing the medical education of 120 students a year, has been responsible for key academic functions, including curriculum, admissions, student promotions and graduation, student wellness, student academic support and faculty appointments and promotions.

Most recently, Dr. Rosenfeld led the expansion of the class size at the medical school from 30 to 40 students per graduating class and extended the program so that students now complete all four years of course work at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem.

He was also instrumental in establishing St. Luke’s tuition reimbursement program which affords qualifying medical students the opportunity to become a doctor at nearly no cost to them. Students who pursue a primary care career and chose to practice at St. Luke’s after graduation are eligible for up to $177,000 in tuition assistance.

For information about Temple-St. Luke’s School of Medicine: sluhn.org/SOM