THE CHALLENGE: To explore the ethical implications of clinical advancements

THE SOLUTION: The Bulletin’s special report on medical ethics tackled a range of urgent ethical dilemmas that medical breakthroughs have posed for doctors. The five-article report opened with a piece on the latest reproductive technologies and ended with an essay by a Harvard Medical School graduate on his professional experiences with physician-assisted suicide.

THE RESPONSES: The avalanche of positive letters to the editor and requests for extra copies assured us that this issue resonated with a broad segment of our readership. “That whole Bulletin with the baby on the cover is precious,” surgeon Tenley Albright ’61 wrote. “It is beautifully done and very moving—a real showstopper. It’s also the best I’ve seen on medical ethics, which is a very frustrating field to try to tackle.”

The issue was one of several that led a panel of judges to name the Bulletin a finalist for the National Magazine Award. “With admirable clarity and compassion, the Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin regularly covers the big themes of the human condition: birth, death, and what lies in between,” the judges’ report read. “Each crisply designed issue turns difficult subjects—such as physician-assisted suicide and the ethical implications of reproductive technologies—into powerful journalism that resonates with readers on many levels.”