David Calkins, MD, MPP
In memoriam, 1949-2006
Rabkin Senior Fellow in Medical Education
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Fellowship Project:
Improving clinical teaching
Dr. David Calkins was an Associate Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he practiced general internal medicine. He also was a Lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he served as Director of the MD-MPH Program and as a Senior Fellow in Patient-Doctor III.
Dr. Calkins was a graduate of Princeton University (A.B., 1970); the Harvard Medical School (M.D., 1975); and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (M.P.P., 1975). He completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at the University of Washington and at the Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. From 1978 to 1981, Dr. Calkins served as a White House Fellow and then as Special Assistant and Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From 1981 to 1991, he was a member of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. He also was Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. From 1991 to 1996, Dr. Calkins was Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, and Medical Director of Ambulatory Services, Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. From 1985 to 1996, Dr. Calkins served as Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health. He directed the Master of Science program in Health Policy and Management and the MPH program in Health Care Management. From 1996 until 1999, Dr. Calkins was affiliated with the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where he served as Associate Dean for Primary Care and later as Senior Associate Dean for Education. In 1999 Dr. Calkins returned to Harvard Medical School as Associate Dean for Clinical Programs.
As a Rabkin Senior Fellow, Dr. Calkins' research focused on improving clinical education. He put this work into practice as a member of Harvard Medical School's Task Force for a New Curriculum, a committee appointed by the Dean to assess the school's current curriculum and develop an overall plan for improvement.