Notable Alums
Specialty: Cardiovascular Surgery
Graduation Year: Class of 1973
Edward James Dunn
Edward Dunn, M.D. ’73, serves as the medical director of Palliative Care and as a consultant in Clinical Medical Ethics at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky.
Dr. Dunn practiced Cardiothoracic Surgery for 20 years (1980-1998 and 2001-2003) in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and in Cambridge, Mass.
In 2000-2001 he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and member of the legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. From 2003 to 2009 he was director of Policy and Clinical Affairs for the Veterans Administration National Center for Patient Safety in Ann Arbor, Mich.
From 2009 to 2015, he served as associate chief of staff for Quality, Safety and Risk Management, and director of the Ethics Consultation service in the Lexington VA Medical Center in Lexington, Ky. During that period, he was principal investigator for the development and implementation of a VA-funded grant program in the disclosure of adverse events to patients and their families.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Dr. Dunn received a master’s of business administration degree from Northwestern University and a doctor of science degree in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2013-2014, he completed a fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, and in 2015-2016, completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton.
Certified by the American Board of Surgery in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, he assumed his current position with Norton Healthcare in 2016.
Dr. Dunn and his wife, Georganna, have five children and 12 grandchildren.
“My years of medical education at Wayne State University taught me the meaning and privilege of taking responsibility for the life of a fellow human being,” he said. “My memories of the sick and dying at Detroit Receiving Hospital are indelible, and prepared me for my residency training in surgery and the years of clinical practice that followed.”
Dr. Dunn practiced Cardiothoracic Surgery for 20 years (1980-1998 and 2001-2003) in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and in Cambridge, Mass.
In 2000-2001 he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and member of the legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. From 2003 to 2009 he was director of Policy and Clinical Affairs for the Veterans Administration National Center for Patient Safety in Ann Arbor, Mich.
From 2009 to 2015, he served as associate chief of staff for Quality, Safety and Risk Management, and director of the Ethics Consultation service in the Lexington VA Medical Center in Lexington, Ky. During that period, he was principal investigator for the development and implementation of a VA-funded grant program in the disclosure of adverse events to patients and their families.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Dr. Dunn received a master’s of business administration degree from Northwestern University and a doctor of science degree in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2013-2014, he completed a fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, and in 2015-2016, completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton.
Certified by the American Board of Surgery in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, he assumed his current position with Norton Healthcare in 2016.
Dr. Dunn and his wife, Georganna, have five children and 12 grandchildren.
“My years of medical education at Wayne State University taught me the meaning and privilege of taking responsibility for the life of a fellow human being,” he said. “My memories of the sick and dying at Detroit Receiving Hospital are indelible, and prepared me for my residency training in surgery and the years of clinical practice that followed.”