MCG alumnus and wife endow stethoscope fund begun by alumni association to ensure its continuity

Melvin Haysman, MD ’71 and his wife Roberta Kamine-Haysman have a longstanding relationship with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Not only did Haysman graduate from MCG and complete his internal medicine residency there, but he also held a faculty appointment as clinical assistant professor and served for many years on the MCG Alumni Association Board of Directors, including a term as president from 2003-04. Haysman ultimately became an allergist-immunologist, serving in private practice in Savannah for 40 years before he retired.

Roberta Kamine-Haysman, a graduate of the University of Georgia, worked at the Medical College of Georgia while Melvin Haysman attended medical school and later helped manage Haysman’s medical practice. She was her husband’s right hand in coordinating alumni activities during his presidency and attended many of these activities with him. The couple hosted oyster roasts and low country boils for MCG students and MCG Alumni Association board meetings and retreats at their home in Savannah.

With all his ties to his alma mater, it is no surprise MCG leaders recognized Haysman as this year’s Distinguished Alumnus for Loyalty – a loyalty demonstrated yet again when he and his wife recently gave a significant gift to create and endow the Dr. Melvin L. Haysman and Mrs. Roberta Kamine-Haysman Stethoscope Fund.

“We wanted to be able to provide the students with something personal, something they’re going to have for a lifetime,” Kamine-Haysman said. “These stethoscopes are also a tangible representation of how the current generation of physicians is mentoring the future generation.”

The MCG Alumni Association started the stethoscope program in 2019 as a way for MCG alumni to give back by purchasing MCG-branded stethoscopes to equip first-year students with this essential patient care device. The endowment from the Haysmans will ensure that the stethoscope program will continue in perpetuity.

You can also support first-year medical students with MCG-branded stethoscopes by making a gift to the Buy A Stethoscope fund. For more information, please contact Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement at 706-721-4001, or email philanthropy@augusta.edu.