Ben Frush completed medical school at UNC Chapel Hill. He trained in internal medicine and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was chief resident. He then completed fellowship in palliative care and hospice medicine at UNC Chapel Hill. Ben is a former fellow in the Theology, Medicine, and Culture fellowship at Duke Divinity School and his research interests lie at the intersection of medicine, theology, and ethics, especially questions involving medical training and end-of-life care.
Peer-Reviewed Publications, published 7/1/2024-7/1/2025
1. Frush BW, Collier KM. Moral Diversity for Medical Trainees. Perspect Biol Med.
2024;67(3):424-436. doi: 10.1353/pbm.2024.a936219. PMID: 39247933.
2. Frush B. Seeking the "Why": Moral Education in Medical Training. South Med J. 2024
Sep;117(9):565-566. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001723. PMID: 39227052.
3. Garfield L, Browning W, Wise K, Ghafuri D, Wyatt M, Tober M, Risney S, Smith J,
Frush B. Triggered. J Grad Med Educ. 2024 Aug;16(4):491-492. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-
24-00001.1. Epub 2024 Aug 15. PMID: 39148882; PMCID: PMC11324165.
4. Frush BW. Be a burden. Palliat Support Care. 2024 Nov 12:1-2. doi:
10.1017/S1478951524001664. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39529475.
5. Frush, B.W. Doctor, Will You Pray for Me? Medicine, Chaplains, and Healing the Whole
Person,by Robert Klitzman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. J Med
Humanit (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-024-09919-0
6. Frush B. Learning to Forget. J Palliat Med. 2024 May;27(5):704. doi:
10.1089/jpm.2023.0595. Epub 2024 May 10. PMID: 38728086.
7. Frush BW. Mess and Metaphysics. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 Dec;68(6):e516-e518.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.10.022. Epub 2023 Oct 21. PMID: 37871838.
8. Brewer Eberly J Jr, Frush BW. First, Do No Harm (to the One You Train). Linacre Q.
2025 Jan 23:00243639241311315. doi: 10.1177/00243639241311315.
9. Frush BW. The Urgency of Truth-Telling: Wisdom from The Death of Ivan Ilyich for
Contemporary Trainees. Am J Med. 2025 Mar;138(3):586-587. doi:
10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.11.027. Epub 2024 Dec 2. PMID: 39631638.
10. Frush BW. The Virtue of Studiositas in Medical Education. Perspect Biol Med.
2025;68(1):87-98. PMID: 40059706. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2025.a953455
11. Frush B. Paul Scherz: The Ethics of Precision Medicine: The Problems of Prevention in
Healthcare. University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame, 2024, 194 pp., $40.00
(hardcover), ISBN: 978-02682-0905-6. Theor Med Bioeth. 2025 Mar 23. doi:
10.1007/s11017-025-09708-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40121596.
12. Frush BW. The Crumbs. Linacre Q. 2025 Feb;92(1):32-35. doi:
10.1177/00243639231210208. Epub 2023 Nov 3. PMID: 39897151; PMCID:
PMC11780643.
13. Frush BW. Radical Hope in Palliative Care. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Feb
21:S0885-3924(25)00076-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.02.017. Epub ahead of
print. PMID: 39988016.
14. Frush B. Moral Distress in Training: A Disquieting Suggestion. South Med J. 2025
May;118(5):267-268. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001818. PMID: 40316269.
15. Frush B, Moyse A, Eberly JB. "MAiD Specialists?" Specialization as a Feature of
Bureaucracy, Not Medicine, in Canada. Am J Bioeth. 2025 May;25(5):53-56. doi:
10.1080/15265161.2025.2488256. Epub 2025 May 8. PMID: 40339088.
16. Frush BW, Kim DT, Fritz J, Kristjánsson K. Wellness versus flourishing in medical
education: a critique toward a new synthesis. Theor Med Bioeth. 2025 Aug;46(4):279-
296. doi: 10.1007/s11017-025-09714-5. Epub 2025 May 14. PMID: 40369370.
17. Frush BW. Dear Nurse: Letter from a Medicine Resident. J Christ Nurs. 2025 Jul-Sep
01;42(3):189. doi: 10.1097/CNJ.0000000000001299. Epub 2025 Jun 9. PMID:
40485027.
18. Frush BW. Trust the Process. Acad Med. 2025 Jul 15. doi:
10.1097/ACM.0000000000006170. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40663748.
19. Frush B, Garland-Thomson R, Tate T. Suffering Is Not Useless. Am J Bioeth. 2025
Aug;25(8):1-4. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2025.2526975. Epub 2025 Jul 30. PMID:
40736983.
20. Frush BW, Gaffney S. "Scarcity," "Futility," and "Moral Distress": A Case Analysis of
the Challenges of Sound Ethical Description. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Aug
1:S0885-3924(25)00746-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.07.025. Epub ahead of
print. PMID: 40754014.
Book Chapters
1. Hawking MK, Frush BW, Yoon J. Toward an End: Perseverance In Medical Training and
Practice. 2025. In The Virtues of Endurance, ed. Nathan L King. Oxford University
Press.
Peer-Reviewed Projects Accepted, publication pending:
1. Sulmasy, DP, Frush BW. Stopping Eating and Drinking at the End of Life: The Natural
and the Voluntary. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. Accepted, publication pending
2. Frush BW, Curlin FA. “Who am I to say?” Why Clinical Ethics Consultants Should be
Trained to Give Directive Counsel. HEC Forum. Accepted, publication pending
3. Frush BW. Prophecy Amidst Malaise: Paul Farmer and the Moral Challenges of
Contemporary Medical Training. Christian Bioethics. Accepted, publication pending.
4. Sulmasy DP, Frush BW. The Wisdom of the Catholic Ordinary/Extraordinary Means
Tradition: Analytic Retrieval and Defense. Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics,
solicited book chapter. Accepted, publication pending.
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications
1. Frush, BW. Book Review: The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation
and the Price of Saying No by bioethicist Carl Elliot. The Intima. October 2, 2024.
2. Frush, BW. On Eating and Not. Mere Orthodoxy. https://mereorthodoxy.com/on-eating-
and-not. April 16, 2025.
3. Frush, BW, Eberly JB, Quinn, B. What is the Way of Christ in Medicine?https://cfc.sebts.edu/faith-and-medicine/the-way-of-christ-in-medicine/ May 30, 2025.
Other Media:
1. Frush BW, Eberly JB. Professional Identity Formation in Medical Training. Hippocratic
Society Podcast. Podcast release date TBD.
2. Frush BW, Chupp M, Barros J. Moral Diversity in Healthcare Training. CMDA Matters
Podcast. October 24, 2024.
Peer-Reviewed Manuscripts (Submitted)
1. Frush, BW. Book Review: “Revitalizing Health Care Ethics: The Clinician’s Voice,” By:
Stephen Scher and Kasia Kozlowska. Solicited Book Review, Linacre Quarterly.
2. Frush, BW. A MacIntyrean Account of Religion as Lived Tradition in Medical Training.
Submitted, Linacre Quarterly.
Academic Presentations
1. Das, R., Frush, BW, Gaffney, S. “Ethical Dilemmas in Blood Transfusions, A Case
Report in Palliative Care.” Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2025.
Accepted.
2. Gaffney, S, Morrison, C., Frush, B, Mishra, P, Rao, V. Reducing Bias with a Pharmacist-
Led Opioid Safety Strategy in Oncology Palliative Care. Annual Assembly of Hospice
and Palliative Medicine, 2025. Accepted.
3. Ben Frush, Brewer Eberly, Emmy Yang, Ashley Moyse. “Irony and Insight: Exploring
Moral Descriptors in Medical Training.” Conference on Medicine and Religion 2025.
Accepted, presentation pending.
4. Ben Frush. Curiosity as Vice? The Virtue of Studiositas in Medical Education.
Conference on Medicine and Religion 2025. Accepted, presentation pending.
5. Ben Frush, James Lynch, Keri Brenner, Nathaniel Wu, Richi Sanchez. The Importance of
Mentorship in Medicine. Hippocratic Society National Conference. June 7, 2025.
Advisory Roles
1. Advisory for Duke Chapter of The Hippocratic Society
Journal Reviews
1. Linacre Quarterly
2. BMC
3. Annals of Internal Medicine