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Medical Humanities Podcast

Medical Humanities Podcast

BMJ Group 98 Episodes Aug 14, 2026

The Medical Humanities Podcast explores the connections between clinical medicine and the arts, covering topics like medical history, bioethics, and gender. Hosts Dr. Sabina Dosani and Dr. Sarah Ahmed speak with writers, artists, and scholars who are reshaping our understanding of health. The show is produced by the BMJ Group and the Institute of Medical Ethics and serves as an audio companion to the Medical Humanities journal. Episodes aim to educate and inform, without providing medical advice.

Episodes

Children's hospitals as exceptional places: Topic Collection
Children's hospitals as exceptional places: Topic Collection Aug 14, 2026 2873 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 tal
Decolonising academic publishing: Black and Brown in Bioethics topic collection
Decolonising academic publishing: Black and Brown in Bioethics topic collection Jun 22, 2026 2048 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,
The Medical Humanities: what's next for the field?
The Medical Humanities: what's next for the field? May 29, 2026 2319 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 experie
Medicine and the Humanities: the art of transgression
Medicine and the Humanities: the art of transgression May 8, 2026 1722 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
Generative chaos: mapping the Medical Humanities
Generative chaos: mapping the Medical Humanities Apr 17, 2026 2394 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 t
What’s the point? Medicine needs the Humanities
What’s the point? Medicine needs the Humanities Mar 20, 2026 1742 "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
The Medical Humanities podcast is coming back soon...
The Medical Humanities podcast is coming back soon... Mar 13, 2026 104 Join Dr. Sabina Dosani and Dr. Sarah Ahmed as they interview world-class artists, scholars, and clinicians about health, illness and systems of care.
Looking further than what you can see: non-visual design, with Simon Dogger
Looking further than what you can see: non-visual design, with Simon Dogger Dec 19, 2024 3071 The design studio of Simon Dogger focusses upon stimulating equity, connection and innovation. He is able to look further than what you can see and not only because he is blind. In cooperation with Dutch schools and universities his studio is working on design education for Visual Impaired People (VIPs). VIPs are resourceful and good inclusive thinkers, but this power is rarely acknowledged. That’
The industrial tragedy at Bhopal through the LivingBodiesObjects’ digital storytelling
The industrial tragedy at Bhopal through the LivingBodiesObjects’ digital storytelling Jul 11, 2024 1841 The 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India, is recognised as the world’s worst industrial disaster.  The Wellcome-funded LivingBodiesObjects project has been working with the Bhopal Medical Appeal (referred to as BMA), a charity funding free healthcare for disaster survivors and water-affected communities. In this podcast episode, LivingBodiesObjects team members Clare Barker and Lynn Wr
Humanising Care for Older People Living with Dementia - Teun Toebes in conversation with Khalid Ali
Humanising Care for Older People Living with Dementia - Teun Toebes in conversation with Khalid Ali May 30, 2024 2202 Teun Toebes, humanitarian activist, in conversation with Khalid Ali. In this podcast, Teun talks about his book 'The Housemates' (The Housemates by Teun Toebes, Laura Vroomen | Waterstones) and documentary film 'Human Forever' (Human Forever The Film (human-forever.com) describing his quest to understand better the experience of older people living with dementia in care in the Netherlands and glob
Making Modern Maternity
Making Modern Maternity May 8, 2024 1310 Introducing their forthcoming special issue of Medical Humanities, Drs. Whitney Wood, Heather Love, Jerika Sanderson, and Karen Weingarten discuss the political significance of “making” our “modern maternity” with Editor-in-Chief Brandy Schillace. Whitney Wood is Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Heathe
Black and Brown in Bioethics: A new Medical Humanities Research Forum
Black and Brown in Bioethics: A new Medical Humanities Research Forum Mar 28, 2024 1524 In this podcast, our Editor-in-chief Brandy Schillace sits down with Matimba Swana and Kumeri Bandara of Black and Brown in Bioethics to discuss how they started, why it is important to build community when challenging disparities in academia, and how Medical Humanities and Black and Brown in Bioethics are joining forces to transform the academic publishing landscape to cater to more diverse voice

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