Edward M. Spencer, M.D.,
Director of Developing Healthcare Ethics Programs (DHEP)
Center for Biomedical Ethics
ems2n@virginia.edu
Dr. Spencer joined the staff of the Center for Biomedical Ethics as Director of Outreach Programs in October 1990. Prior to coming to the University of Virginia, Dr. Spencer had practiced pediatrics in Bluefield, West Virginia, for 23 years. Dr. Spencer attended college at Ohio University where, in 1956, he received his Bachelor’s Degree (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He attended medical school at the University of Chicago School of Medicine and, after internship, joined the U.S. Navy and completed a pediatric residency in 1964 while still in the Navy. He completed a fellowship in biomedical ethics at the University of Virginia in June 1990. During his 25 years of pediatric practice Dr. Spencer served local hospitals in numerous capacities, including acting as Chief of Staff and as a member of the local hospital Board of Directors. He was a West Virginia State Medical Association Councilor and member of that body’s Legislative Committee while in practice in West Virginia. Dr. Spencer is primarily responsible for all of the outreach activities of the Center. He organized and directed the highly praised Colloquy for State Appellate Judges in 1991. He has directed one or more Continuing Medical Education Programs since 1992. Dr. Spencer’s most important contribution to the work of the Center has been and continues to be his leadership role in the development and continuing advancement of two of the Center’s most important outreach activities, DHEP (Developing Healthcare Ethics Programs) and VHEN (Virginia Healthcare Ethics Network). He has been responsible for the DHEP project since its inception and has directed 16 DHEP sessions since 1990. He has been a major force behind the development of VHEN (formerly VBN) and has overseen its continuing attention to important practical, up-to-date issues in healthcare ethics including recent attention to the new field of “organization ethics”. Dr. Spencer has been co-director (along with John C. Fletcher, Ph.D.) of PETHCE (Programs in Education and Training in Healthcare Ethics), under which nine students have completed requirements for a Masters of Clinical Ethics Degree. He has developed and taught a number of courses for PETHCE and for the on-grounds Clinical Ethics Degree Program. He has been a member of the Ethics Committee and the Organization Ethics Subcommittee of the University of Virginia Medical Center and frequently leads discussion groups for clinicians in the Medical Center.