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The Department of Social Studies of Medicine hosts workshops organized around specific themes and concerns. 听The departmental workshops are open to all members of the university community and the public.
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Writing on Medicine in Climates of Controversy听
April 22, 2026
Thomson House Ballroom, 3rd听floor
3650 Rue McTavish听
1:00 pm -听
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Histories of Medicine: A Workshop in Honour of George Weisz
May 13, 2026
SSoM, 3647 Peel, Don Bates Seminar Room, 101
1:30pm - 5:30pm
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13:30-13:45 Introduction
13:45-14:30听(Chapel Hill) 听"A Nearly Disavowed Oral History Adventure with Medical Students"
A couple of sentences about it:听The Black Alumni Experience Project began in 2021, inspired by medical students鈥� interest in a fuller account of their place of learning, the School of Medicine at the 听 听University of North Carolina. This chronicle addresses BAEP鈥檚 origin and rationale, the听tricky political听waters听it navigated听and almost sank in, and how it pulls forward some lessons learned from teaching at 涩里番 as a graduate听student听mentored by George Weisz.
14:30-15:15听 (King鈥檚 College London) "The slack in the system: The American healthcare crisis, manpower planning and physician productivity 1950-1980"
This paper examines historical efforts to calculate听the听health manpower needs of听the听United States from 1950 to 1980, highlighting how perceived physician shortages justified efforts to maximize听the听effective utilization of existing medical labor. While federal and philanthropic听investment was largely directed to听increasing physician supply, research on how physicians might improve听their productivity through delegating tasks to allied health personnel has received less attention. Drawing on health economics and manpower studies,听the听paper explores how physician utilization became a concern amid an American 鈥渉ealthcare crisis鈥� characterized by rising demand for health services, technological change,听increasing costs and shifting public expectations. Ultimately,听the听paper contends that efforts to听increase physician productivity, despite remaining a pervasive structural problem facing virtually all healthcare听systems worldwide, have neither solved听the听mystery of how to deliver health services most effectively nor听the听question of how many physicians are required to do so.
15:15-15:30 Coffee
15:30-16:15听(Western University) "The Material Culture of Surgery: 鈥楥utting鈥� Instruments as Expressions of Surgical Values and Competencies"
What might Physick鈥檚 tonsillotome (1827) and Heine鈥檚 osteotome (1830), which are deemed historically significant but now obsolete surgical instruments, tell us about the practice of surgery during the 19th century? This presentation takes an object-centred approach, with its focus on the use-context and use-value of surgical instruments within broader theories of materiality and meaning, to explore limited-adoption innovation in surgical practice.
16:15-17:00 Mary Hunter (涩里番)
17:00-17:15 George Weisz (涩里番)
17:15 and beyond听听Reception
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