Monica Bharel was the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, appointed in February 2015. On May 27, 2021, Bharel announced she will be stepping down effective June 18. Bharel is an associate professor of medicine at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. She earned her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital/Boston Medical Center. She received her master of public health degree through the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy. She practiced general internal medicine at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Boston Medical Center Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a non-profit 514-bed academic medical center and safety-net hospital in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. As part of the Boston Medical Center Health System, the hospital provides primary and s ...

and the

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

. She taught at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University School of Medicine (formally the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine) is the medical school of Boston University, a private university, private research university in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in ...

, and

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

. Bharel was a leader in the creation of the Public Health Data Warehouse in 2017, as part of the newly created Office of Population Health. Immediately before becoming commissioner, she served as the chief medical officer of Boston Health Care for the Homeless. In 2022, Bharel was honored by

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...

with its Special Award for Excellence in Medical Service and Woman Physician Leadership.

References

Boston University School of Medicine alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American public health doctors Physicians from Massachusetts American internists Boston University School of Medicine faculty Harvard Medical School faculty Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians American women academics American city health commissioners Women internists Women public health doctors {{US-physician-stub