Medical Humanities Podcast

Traditional methods of research and clinical practice are facing a radical shift as scholars push for deeper inclusivity and new ways of thinking.

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Ahmed and Dr. Sabina Dosani talk with Dr. Louise Creechan and Professor Femi Oyebode about the future of the Medical Humanities. They explore the boundaries of inclusivity, questioning who truly gets to speak for lived experiences of suffering and ill health without being instrumentalised by institutions. 

The participants:

 - Dr. Louise Creechan is a Wellcome early career fellow at Durham University, co-lead of the Measurement Lab in Durham's Discovery Research Platform, and a scholar at the forefront of critical neurodiversity studies.
 - Professor Oluwafemi (Femi) Oyebode is a retired psychiatrist, scholar, and author whose research intersects psychopathology with literary humanities, utilising classical art and text to reflect on the modern human condition.

The hosts:

 - Dr. Sabina Dosani, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist;
 - Dr. Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar.

This is the last of a four-part series about the Medical Humanities. Please check the previous episodes.

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The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.

What happens when a comic book illustrator and a fine artist challenge the way medicine is practiced? In this episode, Dr. Sarah Ahmed and Dr. Sabina Dosani talk with Dr. Monica Lalanda and Dr. Tamarin Norwood about why "politeness" might be a problem for research. They explore the overlap between the arts and medical science – exploring how graphic medicine and fine art are tools to break through silos. They discuss how crossing lines and being "transgressive" can bring the focus back to the person behind the patient.

The participants:

Dr. Monica Lalanda is a physician, Graphic Medicine artist and bioethics researcher who coordinates the Spanish Society of Graphic Medicine.

Dr. Tamarin Norwood is a Leverhulme Research Fellow. She is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Durham Institute for Medical Humanities and was an Associate Editor at the Medical Humanities journal from 2025 to 2026. 

The hosts:

Dr Sabina Dosani, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist;

Dr Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar.

Stay connected! Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media.
 
The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.

In the second part of our four-part series about the fundamentals of the field, Professor Stuart Murray and Professor Neil Vickers discuss the origins and institutional state of the Medical Humanities. The conversation explores the field's roots as a strategic effort in the 1960s to maintain human values within a technological medical landscape. Murray and Vickers offer differing perspectives on the discipline, debating everything from the institutional realities of research funding to how scholars in the Global South are using the field to critique traditional medical models. Their discussion highlights the core tensions and contradictions that define the Medical Humanities today.

The participants:
Stuart Murray, Professor at the University of Leeds and Director of the Leeds Centre for Medical Humanities - https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/102/stuart-murray;
Neil Vickers, Professor at King's College London and Co-director of the Centre for the Humanities and Health - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-neil-vickers.

The hosts:
Dr Sabina Dosani, Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist;
Dr Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar.

Stay connected! Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media.
 
The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.

"Medicine, like people, is messy."

In the first episode of a new series from the Medical Humanities podcast, we tackle a question often asked by both sceptics and practitioners: What is the point of the Medical Humanities?

Jointly hosted by Dr. Sarah Ahmed (Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar) and Dr. Sabina Dosani (Medical Humanities' Editor-in-Chief and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist), this conversation features a deep-dive with two leading voices in the field:

Dr. Wing May Kong, Honorary Senior Lecture in Endocrinology and Ethics from Imperial College London, and Chair of Trustees of the Institute of Medical Ethics. https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/w.kong 

Dr. Grace Halden, Reader in Contemporary Literature and Medical Humanities, and co-director of the Centre for Medical and Health Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. https://www.drgracehalden.com/ 

They explore why healthcare is about far more than just data and objectivity. From the unconventional use of sculpture to teach medical students the power of touch, to the "liberating" impact of bringing lived experience and creative non-fiction into the NICU, they also discuss how the humanities create a vital, legitimising space for the stories that don't fit into a clinical record.

 

Stay connected! Visit our blog for more insights and subscribe to the podcast for the latest episodes. Love the podcast? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation with us on social media.

The Medical Humanities Podcast is produced by Letícia Amorim, and is edited by Letícia Amorim and Nick Currey.

Join Dr. Sabina Dosani and Dr. Sarah Ahmed as they interview world-class artists, scholars, and clinicians about health, illness and systems of care.