Medical Humanities Podcast

What happens when we look past the "good glow" of charity to critically analyse its role in public healthcare?

In this episode, hosts Dr Sarah Ahmed and Dr Sabina Dosani discuss the Medical Humanities Topic Collection, "Charity and children’s hospitals — exceptionalism, experiences and welfare" with the guest editors: Professor Ellen Stewart, Dr. Francesca Vaghi, and Dr. Jennifer Crane.  

They talk about how childhood has historically been treated as a policy blind spot, while being used as an emotionally powerful tool for philanthropic fundraising as well. They also examine research from the UK, Mexico, and Finland to discuss the invisible layers of hospital design, and the ethical tensions that arise when essential healthcare needs are relegated to charitable "extras".  

The guests:

 - Professor Ellen Stewart, Professor of Public Policy and Health at the University of Glasgow;  

 - Dr. Francesca Vaghi, Childhood scholar and medical anthropologist at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences; 

 - Dr. Jennifer Crane, Lecturer in Health Geographies at the University of Bristol.  

 

The hosts:

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

- Dr. Sarah Ahmed, Paediatrician and Medical Humanities scholar.

 

https://mh.bmj.com/pages/topic-collection-childrens-hospitals

 

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

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, calls to confront racism, systemic bias, and inequity in global health have become increasingly urgent. But what does meaningful change look like in practice?

In this episode, Dr Sarah Ahmed and Dr Sabina Dosani are joined by the co-founders of the Black and Brown in Bioethics (BBB) network: PhD scholar Matimba Swana, postdoctoral researcher and artist Kumeri Bandara, and academic clinical fellow Dr Harleen Kaur Johal. Together, they discuss their Medical Humanities Topic Collection (https://mh.bmj.com/pages/topic-collection-black-and-brown-in-bioethics) and how decolonising knowledge can help transform healthcare by rebalancing power, challenging whose voices are recognised as authoritative, and creating more equitable futures.

Drawing on papers exploring Black feminist citation practices, clinical trials, and the lived experience of sickle cell pain, they reflect on mentorship, collaboration, and widening participation. Evidence suggests that reshaping medical narratives and diversifying authorship contribute directly to the development of more equitable and inclusive healthcare models.

The participants:

 - Matimba Swana, PhD student at the University of Bristol researching swarm robotics, cancer nanomedicine, bioethics, and digital health inequalities;

 - Kumeri Bandara, Postdoctoral researcher at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, and an artist focusing on health disparities, migration, and the arts

 - Dr Harleen Kaur Johal, Anesthetics resident doctor, postdoctoral researcher, and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at the University of Bristol, specialising in critical care and healthcare disparities

The hosts:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.