Joseph Fins
Encyclopedia
Joseph Jack Fins is an American physician and medical ethicist. He is Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College where he serves as The E. William Davis, Jr., M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics, and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine in Psychiatry. Fins is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Rockefeller University
and has served as Associate for Medicine at The Hastings Center. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton
to The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and currently serves on The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law by gubernatorial appointment.
Fins' scholarship in medical ethics and health policy has focused on palliative care, rational approaches to ethical dilemmas and the development of "clinical pragmatism" as a method of moral problem-solving drawing upon the American pragmatic tradition of William James
and John Dewey
. His more recent work has been in neuorethics and disorders of consciousness following severe brain injury. He was a co-author of the landmark Nature paper describing the first use of deep brain stimulation in the minimally conscious state.
Fins has been a Visiting Professor in Medical Ethics at The Complutense University in Madrid and Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. He is a recipient of a Soros Open Society Institute Project on Death in America Faculty Scholars Award, a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Visiting Fellowship and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.
Fins received a B.A. (College of Letters with Honors) from Wesleyan University
in 1982 and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1986. After an internship at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
, he completed his internal medicine
residency training and fellowship in general internal medicine at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He is the author of "A Palliative Ethic of Care: Clinical Wisdom at Life's End" published by Jones and Bartlett (2006).
A practicing internist at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Fins is a Governor of the American College of Physicians and Vice Chair of the College's Committee on Professionalism and Human Rights. He has served on the boards of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, the Fund for Modern Courts and Wesleyan University, where he is currently Chair of the Alumni Association. Fins also served as a member of New York’s Attorney General’s Commission on Quality Care at the End of Life and sits on a number of Editorial Boards including the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, The Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, The Oncologist, BioMed Central Medical Ethics, "Neuroethics" and the Basic Bioethics Series of MIT Press.
In October 2009, Dr. Fins was elected President of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities "in recognition of his major contributions to bioethics and broad expertise in the field. He will assume the presidency in 2011, when he will begin a two-year term." In October 2010, Dr. Fins was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine
(IOM) of the United States National Academies
. IOM membership is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.
Fins is a Fellow of the Hastings Center
, the American College of Physicians
and the New York Academy of Medicine
.
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
and has served as Associate for Medicine at The Hastings Center. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and currently serves on The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law by gubernatorial appointment.
Fins' scholarship in medical ethics and health policy has focused on palliative care, rational approaches to ethical dilemmas and the development of "clinical pragmatism" as a method of moral problem-solving drawing upon the American pragmatic tradition of William James
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
and John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
. His more recent work has been in neuorethics and disorders of consciousness following severe brain injury. He was a co-author of the landmark Nature paper describing the first use of deep brain stimulation in the minimally conscious state.
Fins has been a Visiting Professor in Medical Ethics at The Complutense University in Madrid and Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. He is a recipient of a Soros Open Society Institute Project on Death in America Faculty Scholars Award, a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Visiting Fellowship and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.
Fins received a B.A. (College of Letters with Honors) from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in 1982 and an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1986. After an internship at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
At his death in 1927, Payne Whitney bestowed the funds to build and endow the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic on the Upper East Side of Manhattan...
, he completed his internal medicine
Internal medicine
Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...
residency training and fellowship in general internal medicine at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He is the author of "A Palliative Ethic of Care: Clinical Wisdom at Life's End" published by Jones and Bartlett (2006).
A practicing internist at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Fins is a Governor of the American College of Physicians and Vice Chair of the College's Committee on Professionalism and Human Rights. He has served on the boards of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, the Fund for Modern Courts and Wesleyan University, where he is currently Chair of the Alumni Association. Fins also served as a member of New York’s Attorney General’s Commission on Quality Care at the End of Life and sits on a number of Editorial Boards including the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, The Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, The Oncologist, BioMed Central Medical Ethics, "Neuroethics" and the Basic Bioethics Series of MIT Press.
In October 2009, Dr. Fins was elected President of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities "in recognition of his major contributions to bioethics and broad expertise in the field. He will assume the presidency in 2011, when he will begin a two-year term." In October 2010, Dr. Fins was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
(IOM) of the United States National Academies
United States National Academies
The United States National Academies comprises four organizations:* National Academy of Sciences * National Academy of Engineering * Institute of Medicine * National Research Council...
. IOM membership is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.
Fins is a Fellow of the Hastings Center
Hastings Center
The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...
, the American College of Physicians
American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is a national organization of doctors of internal medicine —physicians who specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illnesses in adults. With 130,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in...
and the New York Academy of Medicine
New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine was founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York City metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health reform...
.