Message from Department Chair
David Wendell Moller, Ph.D.

Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion. -Buddha

There is growing consensus within academic medicine that training and patient care must be informed with skills in ethical and moral decision-making and concern for the whole person.

Physicians have two major tasks. One is to understand the disease a patient has. The other is to understand the patient as a person. Too frequently, the art and human values in medicine have been made subservient to technologic and economic values.

This is where bioethics, humanities, and osteopathic philosophy become critical. Osteopathic medicine stresses the intersection of mind-body-spirit in health and healing. Bioethics and the medical humanities are especially important tools in developing physicians who are competent in the art of medicine, in particular the delivery of patient-centered care.

It may be said that it is relatively easy to learn the science of medicine. But mastering the art of medicine is a far greater challenge. For this reason, the Department of Bioethics, consistent with the core values of KCUMB, is organized and poised to meet the challenge of training “more-complete” physicians, namely, those proficient in the art of medicine and who are the kind of physician you and I would want taking care of us and those we love.

I encourage you to explore our Web site to discover more about the various programs we offer or read more about our curriculum.

David Wendell Moller, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Bioethics
Campus Office: DC 251
Phone: 816-654-7232
Email: dmoller@kcumb.edu