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Farr A Curlin

Professor of Medicine
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 Appointments & Affiliations


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

In the News


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 Publications


The Role of the Physician in Caring for Patients Pursuing VSED: Challenging the Conventional Approach.

Journal Article J Am Geriatr Soc · December 2025 The conventional approach to caring for patients pursuing voluntarily stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) allows physicians to disagree with the patient's decisions to pursue VSED, but it assumes clinicians should accept the patient's choice and provide ... Full text Link to item Cite

From Detached Concern to Love: Reconsidering Physician-Patient Boundaries

Journal Article Academic Medicine · August 1, 2025 Developing appropriate professional boundaries is part of becoming a mature clinician. Boundaries help physicians fulfill their duties in relationally complex and emotionally fraught situations. The concept of “detached concern” has been used to characteri ... Full text Cite

Developing the Good Physician: The Influence of Role Models in the Development of Virtues and Flourishing in Medical Students.

Journal Article South Med J · March 2025 OBJECTIVES: A virtues-based model of character development for training future physicians may lead to increased flourishing in medical students through the influence of exemplary role models. This study aimed to analyze the association between caring virtu ... Full text 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, Training & Certifications


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