Susan D. Block, MD

Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine
Co-Director, Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care

44 Binney Street, SW411
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617.632.6181
Fax: 617.632.6180

Educational and professional experience:

1972                A.B. Stanford University
1977                M.D. Case Western Reserve University
1977-82            Internship and Residencies in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry,                        Beth Israel Hospital, Boston
1982-1985        Medical Director, Hospice of Cambridge
1983-1988        Assistant Director, The New Pathway Project in General Medicine                        Education
1988-1993        Associate Director of Training & Education, Massachusetts                        Mental Health Center
1992-1998        Director of Medical Education Evaluation Research, Department of                        Ambulatory Care and prevention, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and                        Harvard Medical School
1995-2000        Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Ambulatory Care and                        Prevention
1998-               Chief, Division of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care,                        Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
1999-               Co-Director, HMS Center for Palliative Care
2000-06           Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Medicine)
2006-               Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine

 

Current teaching and research interests:

During my training, I found myself most engaged by the psychological challenges that occur in helping people negotiate their way through serious illness.  Throughout my career, I have worked at the interface between psychiatry and medicine with a particular focus on end-of-life care.  As an educator, my central interest has been in humanizing medical education and practice.  In recent years, I have devoted all of my professional energies to building the field of palliative care, both locally and nationally.  In addition to PCEP, we run other Harvard educational programs for faculty, fellows, residents, and students.  I am also involved in a variety of national activities to develop palliative care competencies, define the expectations for palliative care fellowship training, and as a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.  My research interests focus on mental health issues in end-of-life care and medical education.