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Christine Mitchell, MTS

Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine
Executive Director, Center for Bioethics

Christine Mitchell, MS, MTS, is associate director of clinical ethics in the Division of Medical Ethics. She developed and runs an annual Harvard bioethics course, leads the monthly Harvard Ethics Consortium, teaches in the ethics fellowship program, and organized and co-chairs with Bob Truog the Ethics Leadership Council for the Harvard teaching hospitals and health care facilities. Christine is also director of the Office of Ethics at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she co-chairs the hospital’s Ethics Advisory Committee and directs the ethics consultation service. As a founding board member of the Society for Bioethics Consultation and past president of the American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics, she has been involved with ethics committees nationally and locally since the early 1980s, including a Community Ethics Committee for Harvard hospitals which she organized with Carol Powers, a former ethics fellow and community volunteer. Christine has made documentary films related to clinical ethics, including one which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1984, and a video for which she and film-maker Ben Achtenberg won a Freddie award in 2004. She has written a number of articles on ethics which have been published in the American Journal of NursingThe Journal of Clinical Ethics, (for which she edits a quarterly series based on the Harvard Ethics Consortium), the New England Journal of Medicine, and Newsweek. Articles about her have appeared in Reader’s Digest and Yankee magazine.

 Christine Mitchell's  current research, with Judy Johnson and Bob Truog, is focused on evaluation of ethics consultation at Harvard hospitals (TEECH).

Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Orthostatic Hypotension: Results From the STURDY Trial.
Authors: Authors: Juraschek SP, Miller ER, Wanigatunga AA, Schrack JA, Michos ED, Mitchell CM, Kalyani RR, Appel LJ.
Am J Hypertens
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The Value of Virginity.
Authors: Authors: Mitchell C.
J Clin Ethics
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Hinduism and death with dignity: historic and contemporary case examples.
Authors: Authors: Dewar R, Cahners N, Mitchell C, Forrow L.
J Clin Ethics
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Nurse and physician barriers to spiritual care provision at the end of life.
Authors: Authors: Balboni MJ, Sullivan A, Enzinger AC, Epstein-Peterson ZD, Tseng YD, Mitchell C, Niska J, Zollfrank A, VanderWeele TJ, Balboni TA.
J Pain Symptom Manage
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Medical missions to Ghana: The ethics of choosing children for cardiac surgery.
Authors: Authors: Mitchell C.
J Clin Ethics
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The ethics of reality medical television.
Authors: Authors: Krakower TM, Montello M, Mitchell C, Truog RD.
J Clin Ethics
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HCEC pearls and pitfalls: suggested do's and don't's for healthcare ethics consultants.
Authors: Authors: Carrese JA, Antommaria AH, Berkowitz KA, Berger J, Carrese J, Childs BH, Derse AR, Gallagher C, Gallagher JA, Goodman-Crews P, Heesters A, Jurchak M, Mitchell C, Mokwyune N, Parsi K, Powell T, Powderly KE, Rosell T, Shelton W, Smith ML, Spike J, Tarzian A, Wocial L.
J Clin Ethics
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Predicting future staffing needs at teaching hospitals: use of an analytical program with multiple variables.
Authors: Authors: Mitchell CC, Ashley SW, Zinner MJ, Moore FD.
Arch Surg
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Futility--from hospital policies to state laws.
Authors: Authors: Truog RD, Mitchell C.
Am J Bioeth
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Sex assignment for newborns with ambiguous genitalia and exposure to fetal testosterone: attitudes and practices of pediatric urologists.
Authors: Authors: Diamond DA, Burns JP, Mitchell C, Lamb K, Kartashov AI, Retik AB.
J Pediatr
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