Skip to Main Content

Jeffrey W. Bulger, PhD

Jeffrey W. Bulger, PhD

Director for Bioethics and Humanities & Professor

Dr. Jeffrey W. Bulger is the Director of the Office of Bioethics and Humanities and is a full time teaching faculty member in the Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities at Chicago Medical School.

Abridged Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

Dr. Bulger’s educational background includes a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. His areas of study include Biomedical Ethics, Clinical Ethics, Policy Analysis, Human Rights, Social Political Philosophy, Health Care Education, and Online Pedagogical Course Development.

He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Western Seminary in Portland, OR, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

TEACHING

Dr. Bulger has taught over 30 different philosophy courses face-to-face, blended, and online, including a range of lower- and upper-division courses in Biomedical Ethics, Theoretical and Applied Ethics, Health Care Issues, Public Policy, Professionalism, and Medical Ethics Research. He has demonstrated his pedagogical commitment as evidenced by Institutional Learning Outcomes and with 50 of his mentored students having successfully competed and presented academically peered reviewed papers at the National Conference of Undergraduate Studies (NCUR), documented exemplary Student Ratings of Instructor, and exceptionally high student satisfaction, success, and retention while holding to rigorous academic standards. In addition, he has years of clinical and teaching performance, computer and Learning Management System (LMS) skills, and knowledge of the latest pedagogical theories and assessment strategies.

SERVICE

Dr. Bulger has served on clinical, educational and research institutional governance committees, helping to coordinate and develop administrative policies which are in full compliance with the institutional mission and with federal, state, and institutional regulations and policies. He has actively served on hospital ethics committees, teaching and collaborating with interprofessional healthcare providers, staff and administration, for the advancement of advisory decision-making processes and outcomes.

He has successfully provided leadership in clinical, teaching and institutional environments with patient assisted decision-making, curriculum development and on department, division, institutional and district committees. These activities have assured the full articulation of various course offerings, the improvement of  instructional programs, and the planning, implementation and teaching of special programs in order to support learning success as evidenced by the formulation of Learning Outcomes, their assessment cycles, and their results.

RESEARCH

Dr. Bulger’s research and publications have ranged from the writing of biomedical ethics course textbooks, courses, online course deliveries, and a variety of academic papers. Along with clinical ethics consultations, multi-disciplinary educational programs, and interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborations, his current clinical and organizational ethics research focuses on: “What are the necessary and sufficient conditions and responsibilities for categorizing shared decision-making as being a valid informed consent, and how do those necessary and sufficient conditions and responsibilities differ for the patient, the institution, and public policy?”

DIVERSITY

Dr. Bulger is very sensitive to the socio-economic, academic, cultural, LGBT and ethnic diversity within the educational, healthcare, clinical, and patient population and has an understanding of physical and/or learning disabilities and differences in learning styles.

LIFELONG LEARNING

Dr. Bulger is passionate about professional growth and development and continues to strive towards exemplary excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.