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Robert D. Orr, M.D., C.M., is Consultant on Clinical Ethics at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, Clinical Ethicist at Fletcher Allen Health Care and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.*   In addition, Dr. Orr chairs CBHD's Advisory Board.
 
Dr. Orr received his MD, CM from McGill University in 1966, did residency training in family medicine, and then engaged in the private practice of family medicine in Vermont for 18 years where he was named Vermont Family Doctor of the Year in 1989. A growing interest and involvement in medical ethics led him to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago (1989- 1990). From 1990-2000 he was the Director of Clinical Ethics and Professor of Family Medicine at Loma Linda University in southern California. He was honored by the American Medical Association in 1999 when they gave him the Isaac Hays & John Bell Award for Leadership in Medical Ethics and Professionalism.
 
In 2000 Dr. Orr returned to Vermont as Director of Ethics at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont College of Medicine, and he continues there as a clinical ethicist. In this capacity, he teaches clinical ethics to medical students and house staff, and provides bedside consultations in clinical ethics to assist physicians, patients and families resolve dilemmas in patient care.  Dr. Orr has academic appointments at the University of Vermont, Loma Linda University, Trinity International University (IL), and the Graduate College of Union University (NY)
 
He has co-authored two books, co-edited three others, contributed 10 book chapters, and over 100 articles related to clinical ethics, the ethics consultation process, and issues in terminal care. He has given lectures on these topics regionally, nationally and internationally. He chaired the Council on Ethical Affairs for the California Medical Association, and was Vice President of the American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities. He has served on the Ethics Commission of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations and served as chairman of that commission from 1991-1994.
 
In 2006, Dr. Orr was named Scholar in Residence at the Kilns, the restored home of C. S. Lewis, in Oxford, England. While there, he worked on a book on clinical ethics for pastors and others involved in counseling.
 
* For identification purposes only; does not imply support for CBHD by the University of Vermont, the College of Medicine, or Fletcher Allen Health Care.