26 Mar, 12 | by Ayesha Ahmad
Second Annual Western Michigan University Medical Humanities Conference
September 27-28, 2012; Kalamazoo, Michigan
Proposals should be submitted electronically by July 15—in either .doc/.docx or .pdf format—to
medical-humanities@wmich.edu
27 Sep, 11 | by Deborah Kirklin
Among us, there are
those who will not make it.
Those who will
contend with mortality,
Wrapping themselves
around it,
Unable to let go.
We watch them
as prey through a sight.
Cheer them
as the mob below,
Looking up at
the man on the ledge.
We are unsure
what to hope for.
We stand by
as they put
the pain into
their limbs and lungs.
We take what we desire.
They understand how
want has no confines.
But too soon
the bed is emptied of lovers.
And we are left
with the despair that knows,
What we do to one another,
is still the lesser, than that
Which we do to ourselves.
2011 Daniel Thomas Moran
dan@danielthomasmoran.net
8 Jul, 11 | by James Poskett
In what begins as an ‘unassuming extension of the ears’ and later develops into a ‘triumph over the x-ray machine’, Anne Merritt’s recently published poem, Stethoscope, neatly captures the development of a unique medical relationship that has little to do with patients: one between a doctor and the instruments with which she plies her trade.
13 Jun, 11 | by Deborah Kirklin
Plans for the 8th annual conference of the Association for Medical Humanities are now well underway, with an exciting line up of papers, workshops and plenary speakers. Celebrated poet and doctor Dannie Abse will be running a session entitled Poet in a White Coat; Jed Mercurio, author of Bodies and creator of the TV series Cardiac Arrest, will speak on the Doctor as Antihero; Professor Laurie Maguire, from Magdalen College Oxford, will explore Shakespeare’s guide to health and illness; and Matthew Alexander from North Carolina, a leading authority on the use of cinema in medical education, will begin the conference with a workshop and plenary address on this subject. more…
17 May, 11 | by Ayesha Ahmad
I recently attended the 2nd Annual Hippocrates Poetry and Medicine Symposium, which was held at Warwick Medical School and hosted by Professor Donald Singer and Associate Professor Michael Hulse. During the day, a group of researchers and clinicians from a variety of backgrounds gathered to explore the role of poetry in the discourse of medicine, including renowned poets, Marilyn Hacker and Gwyneth Lewis.
5 Apr, 11 | by Deborah Kirklin
Good medicine is more than a set of technical decisions and interventions involving drugs, operations or tests. It demands more of the practitioner – professionalism, empathetic care, moral consideration, insight, an understanding of human suffering and necessarily, wisdom. These attributes are not always prioritised in selecting for or training healthcare professionals, and there is little time or attention given to their authentic development within busy working environments. Further, there is a widening hiatus of trust, understanding and expectation between medicine and society around what constitutes good medicine. This pressingly requires real engagement around medicine’s role and society’s values. A purely scientific answer will never prove sufficient here.
Medicine Unboxed is a unique project and conference programme that engages both the public and front-line NHS staff with a view of medicine that is infused and elaborated by the humanities. Contributors include artists, writers, the clergy, poets, philosophers, lawyers, linguists, musicians, theatre, ethicists, academics and doctors. The results are thought-provoking, inspiring, sometimes funny and often
moving.
Our theme this year is Medicine and Values.
We think of medicine as simply fact-based, efficient and scientifically robust. These arbiters can become the measures of good medicine. However, medicine is infused with judgments of value – individually for doctors and patients but also in medical science, for society, for policy-makers and health economists. Ethics, law and religion inform duties and rights in medicine, through principles and values. The values that define good medicine are not always apparent or agreed upon and there remains the potential for tension between them.
We’d like to invite you to come along to Medicine Unboxed 2011 and join us in uncovering the values that pertain to medical care and debating the ambivalences around the arbiters of good medicine. Our speakers this year include the Rev. John Bell, John Carey, Lionel Shriver, Jo Shapcott, Ray Tallis, Paul Bailey, Michael
Arditti and Havi Carel.
Come to the debate – be inspired.
Sam Guglani, Consultant Clinical Oncologist.
31 Mar, 11 | by Deborah Kirklin
Scholars from the universities of Glamorgan and Cardiff are currently breaking new ground in the Medical Humanities with the Off Sick project, writes Dr Richard Marsden. This research initiative, led by Dr Martin Willis and Dr Keir Waddington, puts a new twist on the well-known concept of the ‘illness narrative’. It focuses not on the people who actually suffer from illness, but instead on those who support and care for them. In this vein the project team is currently gathering stories from carers across the South Wales area. more…
31 Jul, 10 | by Deborah Kirklin
For all you creative types looking for a suitable outlet for your art, poetry and prose, this call from the respected Canadian journal ARS MEDICA may be just what you’ve been looking for. more…
30 Jul, 10 | by Deborah Kirklin
This is a small, participative, interdisciplinary conference for users, professionals and academics organised by Think About Health, a network committed to doing collaborative ‘intellectual plumbing’ in the NHS. Key note speakers include Femi Oyebode (poet and psychiatrist) and David Fuller (emeritus professor of English). Other contributions from Angus Clarke (clinical geneticist), Deb Lee (paediatrician), Martyn Evans (professor of medical humanities).
It will explore the different languages, clinical, technical, managerial, political, colloquial and other, that flow around the NHS, and their effects and implications for health care and those who plan, offer and receive it. more…
26 Jul, 10 | by Deborah Kirklin
Cheltenham’s ‘Medicine Unboxed’ is a series of conferences for NHS staff, exploring a view of medicine that aspires to more than the technical and which necessarily refers to values, uncertainty and human understanding – to art as much as science. This year, in partnership with the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, we engage the interface between medicine, language and stories. more…
An international peer review journal for health professionals and researchers in medical humanities. Visit site
