Robert Arnold, MD

Robert M. Arnold, MD is a professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and in the University of Pittsburgh Center for Bioethics and Health Law. He completed his medical school training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and residency at Rhode Island Hospital. Subsequently he has been on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2000, Dr. Arnold was named the first Leo H. Criep Chair of Patient Care. The chair emphasizes the importance of the doctor-patient relationship, particularly at the end of life. He is the director of the Institute for Doctor-Patient Communication and the medical director of the UPMC Palliative and Supportive Institute. He is clinically active in palliative care.

Dr. Arnold has published on end-of-life care, hospice and palliative care, doctor-patient communication, and ethics education. His current research interests are focused on educational interventions to improve communication in serious illnesses and better understand how ethical precepts are operationalized in clinical practice. He also is working with the UPMC Health System to develop systemwide, integrative palliative services throughout the health system. He is the past president of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities as well as the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.