Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Center for Humanities and Ethics (McGovern Center)

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Humanities and Ethics in Healthcare

Candidates should upload a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, and a writing sample through the application portal.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue!
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!
  
  

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!
  
  

Position Summary:

The John P. McGovern, M.D., Center for Humanities and Ethics (McGovern Center) at McGovern Medical School seeks applicants for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in humanities and ethics in healthcare. This position will require the successful candidate to contribute to the educational and scholarly goals of the McGovern Center, while developing and honing skills to become a medical humanities educator and scholar. By working in a clinical context, this fellowship will provide unique opportunities not available through other fellowships unrelated to healthcare institutions, strengthening candidates for the job market.

The McGovern Center was established in September 2004 as an integral part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). While housed in McGovern Medical School, the McGovern Center works closely with all seven professional schools of UTHealth, including nursing, medicine, dentistry, public health, biomedical sciences, biomedical informatics, and behavioral health sciences.

Through a combined emphasis on teaching, research, and community engagement, the McGovern Center employs the humanities to address the growing challenges of dehumanization in medicine. Its educational programming and scholarship employ methods from the humanities and interpretive social sciences to examine the cultural, historical, ethical, and experiential aspects of health and healing. The McGovern Center offers core and elective courses that help students cultivate a deeper understanding of their own humanity and professional identity, as well as the reflective habits necessary to provide patient-centered care. The McGovern Center’s scholarship focuses on how power structures, context, and lived experience shape health and healthcare encounters, generating insights that inform both policy and practice.

UTHealth Houston is situated in the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center. Houston is the nation’s fourth-largest city, offering a diverse, vibrant cultural scene with exceptional food, world-class museums, and a welcoming mix of communities.

A biomedical postdoc position provides an opportunity for early-career researchers to gain valuable experience, develop independent research skills, and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in their field of expertise.

Position Key Accountabilities:

• Plans and conducts experiments, analyzes data, and prepares publications describing results.
• Assists in training and mentoring of lab personnel, including graduate students and other trainees.
• Reads and evaluates literature.
• Possess interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate and communicate with individuals at all levels.
• Have strong written and oral communication skills.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
  
  

The successful candidate will be expected to participate fully in McGovern Center activities. This will include 80% of their time supporting McGovern Center teaching, research, and other programmatic initiatives; and 20% of their time in pursuit of their own research and scholarship, either independently or in collaboration with others.

Additional Responsibilities include:

• Teaching ethics small group and didactic sessions for medical students
• Teaching in medical humanities courses, including developing their own elective courses
• Developing enduring educational materials
• Supporting faculty in teaching and research projects, as needed
• Assisting in other McGovern Center programs and projects, as needed
• Participation in all required McGovern Center meetings and events
• Submitting articles for publication in scholarly journals
  
  

Qualifications - External

Minimum Education:

Doctoral/Terminal Degree

Additional Position Requirements

The successful candidate should meet the following criteria:

• Ph.D. in the humanities, bioethics, or social sciences (in hand by June 2026);
• Experience teaching medical ethics and medical humanities;
• Evidence of research/publication in the humanities or bioethics;
• Strong professional and interpersonal skills; and
  
  

The ability to collaborate in an interdisciplinary environment within the context of a medical school.

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds frequently and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive:

This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code

• 51.215
  
  

Residency Requirement:

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.