Values-Based Care

A combination of faith and fate brought Steven Siano ’15, M.D., to Le Moyne in the fall of 2011. A Liverpool, New York, native with a passion for science, Siano initially envisioned leaving Central New York to attend college, but the close-knit community he found on campus ultimately drew him to the Heights. Siano studied biology as an undergraduate. He also served as a resident adviser in Dablon Hall, member of the Student Government Association and intern in the Office of Admission. He accepted an invitation to speak at Le Moyne President Linda LeMura’s 2014 inauguration. The intangible lessons he learned about persistence, accountability and empathy through experiences like these most inform the work he does today at the Raleigh-based Carolina Spine Center.

Siano is board certified in the growing field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Put simply, he specializes in nonsurgical treatment of painful musculoskeletal disorders. His specialty reflects what Siano sees as a move in medicine toward “values-based care,” or care that is more efficient and focused on prevention of illness. The patients he works with aren’t fixated on what the results of a particular blood test are; they simply want to know that they can climb stairs or pick up their children or grandchildren without pain. In that respect, Siano’s role aligns closely with the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis, or care for the whole person.

His work has taught Siano that well-rounded people are better doctors. He takes pride in the fact that, thanks to his broad-based liberal arts education, he can talk to his patients about one of Shakespeare’s plays (if they so choose) as well as the injection he may be administering to them. He also deeply values the Jesuit commitment to service. In fact, it led him back to Le Moyne when he was a student at SUNY Upstate Medical University to teach two courses—an anatomy lab for undergraduate students and a population-based pharmacology course for graduate students in the Physician Assistant Studies Program. One of his greatest joys today is traveling to Rockingham, North Carolina, a historically underserved area about 100 miles southeast of Raleigh, every month to treat patients there.

A decade after graduating from Le Moyne, Siano draws on the lessons he learned at the College every day.