Medical Humanities Podcast

About Medical Humanities Podcast

The Medical Humanities Podcast explores the stories, ethics, and experiences that connect clinical medicine to the arts. From the history of medicine to bioethics and gender, hosts Dr. Sabina Dosani (Editor-in-Chief of Medical Humanities) and paediatrician Dr. Sarah Ahmed speak with writers, artists, and scholars redefining our understanding of health. Join us as we pull at the threads that tie us together and investigate the ones that unravel. Brought to you by the BMJ and the Institute of Medical Ethics. Medical Humanities - mh.bmj.com - is an international journal from the BMJ Group and the Institute of Medical Ethics (IME) publishing studies on the history of medicine, cultures of medicine, disability, gender, bioethics and medical education.

Publisher

BMJ Group

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Apr 2014

Latest episode

14 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

98 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Aug 2026

   Children's hospitals as exceptional places: Topic Collection

   What happens when we look past the "good glow" of charity to critically analyse its role in public healthcare? In this episode, paediatricians and 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 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.

2. 

   22 Jun 2026

   Decolonising academic publishing: Black and Brown in Bioethics topic collection

   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. 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.

3. 

   29 May 2026

   The Medical Humanities podcast: what's next for the field?

   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.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

4 ratings

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