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Farr A Curlin

Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities
Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care
3040, 108 Seeley G Mudd Bldg, Durham, NC 27710
3040, 108 Seeley G Mudd Bldg, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Farr Curlin, MD, is Josiah Trent Professor of Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative (TMC) at Duke University. Dr. Curlin has worked to bring attention to the intersection of medicine, ethics, and theology. In 2012 he helped to found both the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion and the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion. Since 2015, through Duke Divinity School’s TMC Initiative, he and colleagues have brought graduate theological training to those with vocations to health care. Starting in 2023, Dr. Curlin also is working with colleagues across North America to develop the Hippocratic Society, an association of students and practitioners dedicated to fulfilling the profession to heal. He is co-author, with Chris Tollefsen, of The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (Notre Dame University Press, 2021), as well as more than 150 articles and book chapters addressing the moral and spiritual dimensions of medical practice.

Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations


Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities · 2014 - Present Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Medicine
Professor of Medicine · 2024 - Present Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Medicine
Professor of Medical Humanities · 2014 - Present Divinity School
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society · 2017 - Present Duke Science & Society, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Faculty Associate in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine · 2024 - Present Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine, Institutes and Centers

Recent News Items


Published July 9, 2019
A Summer Seminar Exploring Central Ethical Questions in Contemporary Medical Care
Published July 9, 2019
Helping Churches Face Down the Opioid Epidemic in Appalachia
Published May 23, 2018
In Appalachia, the Fight Against Opioid Abuse Comes to the Pulpit

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Recent Scholarly Works


"Who am I to Say?" Why Clinical Ethics Consultants Should be Trained to Give Directive Counsel.

Journal article HEC Forum · February 1, 2026 Although clinical ethics consultation once involved the ethicist exercising practical reason to make moral judgments and recommendations, today clinical ethicists largely attempt to keep their “personal” moral judgments on the sidelines (Bell, 2022). Pract ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


Seminars on Faith and Science

Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Foundation for Excellence in Education · 2019 - 2022

Arete Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Foundation for Excellence in Education · 2019 - 2021

Training Research-Literate Chaplains as Ambassadors for Spirituality and Health: Phase I

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rush University Medical Center · 2015 - 2019

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Education


University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 1998 M.D.