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Arnold  Relman

Arnold Relman

Former Editor In Chief Of The New England Health Journal

Arnold Relman

Former Editor In Chief Of The New England Health Journal

Biography

Dr. Arnold Relman began his research career in nephrology and electrolyte and acid-base balance while at Yale, and over a period of nearly 30 years he published numerous original research and clinical studies as well as textbook chapters and monographs on these subjects.  In 1966 and 1974 he was the co-editor, with F. J. Ingelfinger and M. Finland, of two volumes of Controversy in Internal Medicine.  In recent years he has become interested in the health care system and has written widely on the economic, ethical, legal and social aspects of health care.  His articles on the "medical-industrial complex" have been widely read.

Dr. Relman has just completed a book on health care reform titled A Second Opinion, which analyzes the development of today’s health care problems and proposes a novel, comprehensive solution.  He thinks that reform of the medical insurance system should be coupled with a basic change in the organization and delivery of medical care. 

            In 1977 he was appointed Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Senior Physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.  In 1991 he became Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Journal, and Professor of Medicine and of Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  In 1993 he became Professor emeritus of Medicine and of Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

            Dr. Relman holds eight honorary degrees from various institutions and has won over a dozen awards and recognitions for his work.  Most recently, in 2003, he and Dr. Marcia Angell won the Polk Journalism Prize for their study of the pharmaceutical industry.  Dr. Relman is currently working on a book about health care reform.

            Dr. Relman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member (and former member of the Council) of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a former President of the American Federation for Clinical Research, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.  He has been a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine (twice certified by the Board), as well as of the Board of Directors of the Hastings Center for Bioethics.  He is also a Master of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London.  He is a Trustee of Columbia University emeritus, and is a former trustee of the Boston University and University of Pennsylvania Medical Centers.

            Dr. Relman graduated from Cornell University in 1943 with Distinction in Philosophy and received his M.D. degree from Columbia University in 1946.  After his internship and residency at the Yale-New

Haven Hospital, he became a National Research Council Fellow in the Medical Sciences at Boston University School of Medicine.  He was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University in 1951 and remained on the BU faculty until 1968, achieving the rank of Professor of Medicine in 1961.  From 1962 to 1967 he was Editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  In 1967 he became the Conrad Wesselhoeft Professor of Medicine and Director of the V and VI Medical Services at the Boston City Hospital.  From 1968 to 1977 Dr. Relman was the Frank Wister Thomas Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. 

Speech Topics

The Future of Medical Practice

Reforming the US Healthcare System

Improving the Quality of Hospital Care

Medical Journals, Medical News and the Public Interest

What is “Alternative Medicine?”