About
In the last quarter century, as the biomedical revolution has achieved unprecedented scientific achievements, it has become increasingly clear that the moral basis of scientific and medical investigation and practice inevitably leads back to fundamental questions of ethics and values in our culture. The Division of Medical Ethics applies a broad interdisciplinary approach to investigate how social, cultural, and political forces shape ethical considerations in the sciences and medicine. Based in Harvard Medical School’s internationally-recognized Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, and surrounded by Harvard’s world-renowned affiliated hospitals, the Division is deeply rooted in an approach which brings together the social sciences and humanities with research science and clinical medicine to explore critical moral elements of the social determinants of health and disease, the nature and meaning of illness, and the organization and delivery of health care.
As part of our commitment to broad public involvement and perspective, the Division is dedicated to intensive empirical and theoretical investigations into how medical care is organized and delivered, both on a clinical and a policy level. For example, as we investigate the ethics of end of life care, so too, do we investigate disparities in patterns of health and illness and access to care. As we continue to assess the impact of new forms of health care delivery, we also evaluate the changing character of patient-doctor relationships. In all of our teaching and research, the Division emphasizes the importance of understanding complex ethical dilemmas in their social, cultural, economic, and political contexts.
Division Goals
The Division of Medical Ethics is committed to:
- integrate broad ethical and moral reflection into the teaching and practice of medicine;
- sensitize students and practitioners to the range of moral and cultural issues associated with illness and treatment;
- educate and inform the public about the complex social, political and ethical issues that affect the ways medicine is organized and practiced;
- create a vigorous intellectual forum for debate and discussion of emerging ethical issues in contemporary health care.
Current Programs
To achieve these goals, the Division has developed five core programs:
- Medical Education
- Fellowships
- Hospital Liaison/Professional Development
- Research
- Public Programs