About the Dean for External Education
David H. Roberts
Dean for External Education, Harvard Medical School
David H. Roberts was appointed in March 2014 as the inaugural dean for external education at Harvard Medical School. An HMS alumnus and associate professor of medicine, Dr. Roberts completed his internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital and a pulmonary and critical care fellowship in the Harvard Combined Program.
Building his career as a pulmonologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, much of Dr. Roberts' work focused on the intersection of medicine and medical education, earning him an international reputation as a highly collaborative and innovative medical educator. Under Roberts’ leadership, there has been significant growth in the reach and impact of HMS faculty around the world through an ever-expanding set of educational programs and products for learners of all types.
Millions of people utilize Harvard Health Publishing materials daily to improve their health and better understand medical conditions. Asynchronous online learning programs like HMX and HealthXcelerate enable HMS faculty to teach about advances in medical science and health care delivery. Clinicians, researchers, and industry executives now obtain vital learning from a range of HMS External Education programs on a broad range of topics, including the impact of artificial intelligence in medicine and health care.
Over the years, Dr. Roberts has received numerous teaching awards, including the coveted HMS Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and he is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship.