Howard Hiatt MD
Howard Hiatt MD: Associate Chief of the Division, is former Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, former Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and a distinguished expert in public health, international health and medicine. He is now Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Board of Directors of Partners In Health.
After a lifetime in public health, what do you think it is that makes this division and the group of doctors here unique?
Now more than ever, it’s important for the US to demonstrate to the world our compassion and support for resource-poor communities. Paul Farmer and Jim Kim and the young people who choose to follow in their footsteps show what our country at its best can and should do, as they demonstrate effective ways of providing medical care for the least fortunate of the world. For me working with them is a privilege.
Why is it important that a large teaching hospital such as Brigham and Women’s has made this a priority?
By making this a priority the Brigham and Women’s Hospital has announced that medical care for all people independent of social status, income, and geography is part of its mission. The fact that there are “branches” of BWH in Haiti, Siberia and Peru as well as in Boston’s inner city presents a message that is, of course, far more explicit than our simply saying “We care about these problems.”
What role can the Division of Social Medicine play in advancing global health?
The Division is helping in two ways. First, its graduates and members are applying what they have learned here to people in need all over the world.
Second is its impact on other institutions in the US and other industrialized countries that seek to emulate what they see here. Brigham and Women’s has a tradition of excellence and leadership, and its programs often serve as models for other teaching hospitals.
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