Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:
I am writing to share that Dr. Edward M. Hundert has communicated to me his intention to step down from his role as dean for medical education at the end of this academic year, culminating nearly nine years of service and leadership in this role.
You may know that Ed, an HMS alumnus himself, has devoted his time over the years to working with the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development to help engage our alumni and garner the resources to achieve our bold aspirations for HMS. Beginning next summer, he will formally join AAD as senior philanthropic advisor, while also continuing to serve as associate director of the Center for Bioethics, leader and teacher of the MD bioethics curriculum, and a senior faculty member in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.
Ed’s impact as dean for medical education has been significant. Together with the talented and diverse team he assembled, Ed finalized the planning, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Pathways curriculum, created the unique Advanced Integrated Science Courses, and helped shepherd HMS’ successful LCME reaccreditation. He led the charge to reduce student debt, created and helped raise millions of dollars for the REACH Scholarship program, expanded the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs, oversaw an extensive anti-racism initiative for the MD program, and championed student mental health and wellness initiatives.
Under Ed’s leadership, new offices were established dedicated to disabilities services, educational quality improvement, and, in partnership with the Center for Primary Care, community centered medical education. Having admirably led our MD program through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been jump-starting efforts to restructure the curriculum for the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program and remodel the core clerkship year.
Perhaps Ed’s greatest impact has been on the students, faculty, and staff who have benefited from his inspiration and direction, which he has provided with his signature combination of wisdom, humor, and generosity of spirit. Our MD program and medical school have been and will continue to be profoundly shaped by Ed’s passion and service. I look forward to the opportunities we will have later this academic year to celebrate his tenure as dean for medical education. In the meantime, Ed asked me to share the message below.
As we launch a national search for our next dean for medical education, I want to thank Dr. Jules Dienstag, the Carl W. Walter Professor of Medicine, for accepting my invitation to chair the search committee. We have retained Exceptional Executive Search and will be working directly with the firm’s president, Nicole Gakidis, in connection with this search. We welcome your thoughts and nominations, which can be sent in confidence to hms@eesrecruit.com.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
Message from Dr. Edward M. Hundert:
Dear Faculty, Students, Staff, Trainees, Alumni, and Friends,
These past nine years as dean for medical education have been the most exciting and rewarding of my professional career. Most important are the relationships that have so enhanced my life — particularly with the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who inspire me every day. I am so glad that I will still be working hard on HMS’ and your behalf for years to come.
I find myself in the almost unbelievable situation of having connections with over a third of HMS alumni, between my time as an HMS student and my roles in student affairs, as an ethics teacher, and most recently, as dean for medical education. This presents a unique opportunity to further engage my fellow alumni and others in the noble mission of the School. So much of my professional life has been shaped by my late mentor, Dr. Dan Federman, and it has long been my aspiration to follow his example of transitioning from dean for medical education (of which Dan was the first incumbent) to working in Alumni Affairs and Development to help garner the resources to support HMS’ future.
I remember well my discussions a decade ago with Dean Jeff Flier that led to my appointment as dean for medical education. The Pathways curriculum initiative was in the final stages of development, and it seemed like the appropriate time to have a new leader complete the planning process and attend to the critical early years of continuous improvement required of any new curriculum. Now, a decade later, we are at a similar stage as we move closer to launching a new HST curriculum and a new clerkship model — efforts that will require continuity of leadership over the several years that will follow.
Just as my predecessor, Dr. Jules Dienstag, set in motion so many of the initiatives I have had the joy to oversee, I am dedicated to ensuring the same for my successor, so there is much work to do in the coming year! What I know for sure is that we are blessed with the most extraordinary students, faculty, and staff to ensure that all this great progress will continue unabated, and I am excited to lead the Program in Medical Education through this academic year and to support these exciting efforts for many years to come.
There are far too many people to thank in this message, and I look forward to expressing my gratitude both publicly and privately. I must, however, thank Dr. Jeff Flier, who entrusted me with this role — which is the best job in the world — and especially Dr. George Daley, to whom we all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for his unwavering support for medical student education. I cannot tell you how fortunate HMS is to have George’s inspirational, intellectual, and moral leadership.
I am excited to continue supporting his vision through my ongoing involvement in our ethics curriculum and in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and I am especially energized to work as hard as I can in AAD to secure the resources that will help George and the entire leadership team strive to achieve HMS’ aspirational mission to alleviate suffering and promote health and well-being for all.
With deep gratitude,
Edward M. Hundert