Doctoral candidate Paul Burcher, M.D., has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Bioethics at the Alden March Bioethics Institute, Albany Medical College. Paul will be teaching medical students and also teaching in the masters program for bioethics (which is primarily for practicing physicians). His position includes an appointment in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department teaching residents. Prior to pursuing doctoral study at the University of Oregon, Paul earned his M.D. from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and taught Obstetrics and Gynecology in a residency program affiliated with SUNY Buffalo, joining the PeaceHealth Medical Group in Eugene as a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2002. Paul’s research addresses the doctor-patient relationship, the central principle of which, for the last forty years, has been respect for patient autonomy. Paul’s dissertation argues that while patient autonomy must be valued, it is narrative and phronetic judgment that should shape and delimit this encounter.
