John Sadler, M.D.

John Z. Sadler, MD,  Director of the Program in Ethics in Science & Medicine and Chief of the Division of Ethics in the Department of Psychiatry is internationally acclaimed for his work in the fields of Philosophy and Ethics of Psychiatry. He is co-founder and treasurer of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry, an organization dedicated to exploring conceptual issues at the interface of psychiatry and philosophy, and is one of three Executive Secretaries of the International Network of Philosophy and Psychiatry. Dr. Sadler is co-editor of an international journal, Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, and the Oxford University Press book series, “International Perspectives on Philosophy and Psychiatry”, which has published over 50 monographs "Oxford Handbooks" reference texts. Dr. Sadler’s work prompted the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians to award their Psychiatric Excellence Award to him in 2001. Dr. Sadler’s ongoing work in the education of medical students, residents, and practitioners has earned him several teaching awards, including the Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate of Excellence in Medical Education from the American Psychiatric Association, appointment as a UT System and UT Southwestern Distinguished Teaching Professor, election to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society anno domini, and an inaugural recipient of the UT Health Science System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012. In 2014 he was awarded the Distinguished Clinical Science Educator Award from the UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers, and in 2014 he was designated a Distinguished Life Fellow from the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Sadler has edited or co-edited several books, several special issues of professional journals, and authored Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis (Oxford University Press, 2005). In collaboration with philosopher Jennifer Radden, he co-authored The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Clinical Practice. In 2013 Dr. Sadler was a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and in 2015 he was the lead editor of the 2-volume, 1700 page Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, and in 2021 a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics, all definitive reference works in their fields. Dr. Sadler has published dozens of articles and chapters in the area of clinical psychiatry, psychiatric education, bioethics, and the philosophy of psychiatry. Since 1985, he has served on the Parkland Hospital & Health System Institutional Ethics Committee and from 1989-2019 served as its co-chair and the clinical ethics consultant to the hospital. Dr. Sadler received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and trained in psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center before joining the faculty in 1984.

Medical School

Indiana University School of Medicine (1980)

Internship

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1981), Psychiatry

Residency

UT Southwestern Medical Center (1984), Psychiatry

• Clinical Research Ethics
• Medical Ethics
• Philosophy and Ethics of Psychiatry
• Psychiatric Education

Featured Publications

Professional Identity Formation: Creating a Longitudinal Framework Through TIME (Transformation in Medical Education).

Holden MD, Buck E, Luk J, Ambriz F, Boisaubin EV, Clark MA, Mihalic AP, Sadler JZ, Sapire KJ, Spike JP, Vince A, Dalrymple JL Acad Med 2015 Apr

Psychiatric molecular genetics and the ethics of social promise

Sadler JZ Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 2011 8 March 27-34

What is a mental/psychiatric disorder? From DSM-IV to DSM-V

Stein DJ, Phillips KA, Bolton D, Fulford KW, Sadler JZ, Kendler KS Psychological Medicine 2010 11 40 1759-1765

Can medicalization be good? Situating medicalization within bioethics

Sadler JZ, Jotterand F, Lee SC, Inrig S Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 2009 6 30 411-425

Vice and the diagnostic classification of mental disorders: A philosophical case conference

Sadler JZ Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 2008 1 15 1-17

Issues for DSM-V: DSM-V should include a conceptual issues work group

Kendler KS, Appelbaum PS, Bell CC, Fulford KW, Ghaemi SN, Schaffner KF, Waterman GS, First MB, Sadler JZ American Journal of Psychiatry 2008 2 165 174-175

Character virtues in psychiatric practice.

Radden J, Sadler JZ Harv Rev Psychiatry 2008 16 6 373-80

The psychiatric significance of the personal self

Sadler JZ Psychiatry 2007 2 70 113-129

Recognizing values: A descriptive-causal method for medical/scientific discourses

Sadler JZ The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1997 22 541-565

The Parkland approach to demands for "futile" treatment.

Sadler JZ, Mayo TW HEC Forum 1993 Jan 5 1 35-8

 Featured Books

Philosophical Perspectives on Psychiatric Diagnostic Classification

Sadler, J.Z., Wiggins, O.P., and Schwartz, M.A. (Ed.) (1994). Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press

Descriptions and Prescriptions: Values, Mental Disorders, and the DSMs

Sadler, J.Z. (Ed.) (2002). Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press

Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis

Sadler, J.Z. (2005). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

Nature and Narrative: An Introduction to the New Philosophy of Psychiatry

Fulford, K.W.M., Morris, K., Sadler, J.Z., and Stanghellini, G. (Ed.) (2003). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Psychiatric Practice

Radden, J.H., and Sadler, J.Z. (2010). New York, NY/Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry

Fulford, KWM, Davies, M, Gipps, RGT, Graham, G, Sadler, JZ, Stanghellini, G, Thornton, T (Ed.) (2013). Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics

Sadler, J.Z., Van Staden C.W., Fulford, K.W.M. (Ed.) (2015). Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press

Virtues in the practice of psychiatric diagnosis. In Psychiatric Ethics, Fifth Edition

Laney M, Sadler JZ (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

Why ethics matter in psychotherapy. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Trachsel M, Gaab J, Tekin S, Biller-Andorno N, Sadler JZ (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Trachsel M, Gaab J, Tekin S, Biller-Andorno N, Sadler JZ. (Ed.) (2021). Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

Conceptual models of normative content in mental disorders. In Thomas Szasz: An appraisal of his legacy

Sadler JZ (2019). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Legitimate and illegitimate imposition of therapists? values on patients. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Lampley S, Sadler JZ (2020). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Evidence, science, and ethics in talk-based healing practices. In The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Phillips J, Sadler JZ (2019). Oxford, Oxford University Press

Psychiatric Ethics. In Landmark Papers in Psychiatry

Zettl R, Sadler JZ (2020). New York, NY USA, Oxford University Press

Embedded ethics in medical education. In Ethics at the Heart of Higher Education

Camp M.E., Cole A.G., Sadler J.Z (2020). Eugene, Oregon, USA, Pickwick Publications

• Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
  (2015)
• Distinguished Clinical Science Educator Award, UT Southwestern Medical Center
  (2013-2014)
• UT System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award
  Recipient (2012)
• Alpha Omega Alpha
  Medical honorary fraternity (2008)
• Charter Member
  The UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers (SWAT) (2006)
• Member
  The University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education (2006)
• Psychiatric Excellence Award
  Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians (2001)

• American Psychiatric Association
• American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
• Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry
• North Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians
• Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians