Across many African traditions, children are taught to repeat the names of their ancestors as far back as the mind can remember. These children will not have a sense of time in the way that time dictates the movements of every possible action in the West. Instead, the legacy of their ancestors seeps into their play […]
Latest articles
MH’s Jane Austen Research Paper Universally Acknowledged
The latest issue of Medical Humanities, published on December 1st, features an original paper in which KG White argues that tuberculosis, and not Addison’s Disease, may have killed Jane Austen, one of the world’s favourite authors. The popular appeal of stories about Austen was evidenced by the rapid take up of this story by the world’s […]
Conference on Medical Narrative in Graphic Novels: Call for Papers
Although the first comic book was invented in 1837 the long-format graphic narrative has only become a distinct and unique body of literary work relatively recently. Thanks in part to the growing Medical Humanities movement, many medical schools now encourage the reading of literature and the study of art to gain insights into the human condition. A serious content […]
The Art of Making Sense of Life and Death
An exhibition of recent work by artist David Marron opened recently at GV Art Gallery in London, writes Marina Wallace, curator of the exhibition. A catalogue, containing the writings of the artist, accompanies the show. Having installed his work, and having been present at the private view and the following days’ encounters with critics, journalists, […]
District 9 and Man’s Inhumanity to Man: a filmic guide to dehumanisation
I am fortunate enough to count Professor Jonathan Glover, a world renowned medical ethicist, amongst my former teachers. A very modest and thoughtful man, Jonathan Glover spent a number of years writing a similarly thoughtful book in which he tries to understand what he terms man’s inhumanity to man (Humanity: a Moral History of the […]
Saying goodbye to patients: a GP’s perspective
I’ve spent the last few weeks saying goodbye to my patients, letting them know, that after eight years, I will no longer be their GP. I don’t tell every patient I see, but instead restrict myself to telling those with whose care I’ve been more intimately involved in and those whom I’m advising to come […]
UNESCO sex education guidelines spark controversy : could medical humanities help?
According to UNESCO there are 111 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among people ages 10 to 24 globally each year. In addition, 4.4 million women age 15 to 19 seek abortions each year. As part of their on-going programme to try to improve this situation, and with a strong focus on trying to reduce […]
Medicine Unboxed Conference: October 10th 2009
This one day conference is the brainchild of Dr Sam Guglani, a clinical oncologist who specialises in the treatment of patients with breast, lung and brain cancers. You might think this would be enough to keep him busy, but working with people at such a vulnerable and formative time in their lives has clearly left […]
Integrity in health care: changing roles and relationships:17-18th September 2009
Coming up soon, the organisers of this conference, ‘Thinking about Health’, promise a different kind of conference: small, participative, interdisciplinary, and aimed at users, professionals and academics. It will explore the changing nature of roles and relationships in the NHS and their implications, focussing on the implications of change for the integrity and identity of […]
What if you haven’t got a flu friend?
There are always, within the population, individuals who have no one to collect medicines for them when they are ill. The group predominantly affected are the elderly but, especially in a situation in which a significant proportion of the population is affected by a flu pandemic, there will be others. In normal circumstances we have a […]