The end-of-project Shame and Medicine Conference took place on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th June 2025 in the Woodbridge Suite, Reed Hall at the University of Exeter and online.
CONFERENCE RECORDINGS
WELCOME – Prof Luna Dolezal, University of Exeter
KEYNOTE
- Hidden Injuries of Medicine: Findings from a 5-year Empirical Study into Shame in Medicine – Dr Matthew Gibson, Dr Farina Kokab and Dr Stephen Williams, University of Birmingham
PANEL 1: ‘Patients, Shame and Stigma’
- The Burden of Visibility: Functional Seizures and the Relational Experience of Shame – Prof Paula Muhr, Brand University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg
- Beyond the Diagnosis: How Intersectional Identities Shape Stigma and Care in Skin NTDs – Dr Monisha Madhumita, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, India
LIGHTENING TALKS PANEL: ‘Interventions working with Shame’
- Navigating Shame in Medical Museums – Rebecca Lush, The University of Queensland
- Shame Competence Training in Patient Safety: An Innovative Course for Practicing Physicians – Dr Michael Krasner, EmPRO Insurance Company & University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Inclusive Practice: Mitigating Shame in the Clinical Environment – Dr Patricia Luck, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Fostering Connection and Shame Resilience Through Self-Compassion in Medical Training – Dr Gioconda Mojica and Madison Brenner, Houston McGovern Medical School
PANEL 2: ‘Shame and Public Health’
- Shaming the Non-Blood Donor in post-WWII Iran – Dr Samin Rashidbeigi, Rice University
- Shame in Anti-Smoking and Weight-Loss Campaigns and Addiction: What We Can Learn – Dr Sarah Malanowski and Dr Nicholas Baima, Florida Atlantic University
PANEL 3: ‘Shame and Narrative Medicine’
- Narrative Medicine as an Antidote to Shame: A Close Reading of a Poem about Chronic Illness – Dr Karen Gold, University of Toronto
INVITED SPEAKER PANEL
- Healing Together from Shame after a Medical Error – Dr Diane Aubin, Healthcare Research Consultant
- Perfectionism in medicine – useful or a tyranny of shoulds? – Dr Sandy Miles, Compass House Medical Centre, Brixham
PANEL 4: ‘Clinician Shame’
Autistic Psychiatrists: Silenced by Shame. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of the Reasons for Non-Disclosure and Avoiding Formal Diagnosis – Dr Mary Doherty, University College Dublin
Raising an Issue by Humiliating: Constructing Humiliating Interaction in Healthcare Organisation – Ella Autti, University of Lapland
LIGHTENING TALKS PANEL: ‘Interventions working with Shame’
- Moving Shame – Gemma Lucas, University of Exeter and Trevor Sytsma, Duke University
- Teaching Stigma in an Undergraduate Seminar – Dr Sara Press, Harvard University
- Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Anatomy of the Physician: An Examination of the Body as a Place of Shame in Physician Identity Development – Dr Sarah Kim, University of Toronto
- The Downplaying of Hepatitis C and its Consequences – Dr Sarah Skyrme, University of Manchester
INVITED SPEAKER
- Mapping the Landscape of Shame in Healthcare: Gains, Challenges, and Next Steps – Dr Will Bynum, Duke University
CLOSE – Prof Luna Dolezal, University of Exeter
Key Note Speakers:
- Prof Matthew Gibson, Dr Farina Kokab and Dr Stephen Williams (University of Birmingham)
Invited Speakers:
- Dr Will Bynum (Duke University)
- Dr Sandy Miles (Compass House Medical Centre, Brixham)
- Dr Diane Aubin (Diane Aubin Consulting)
Speakers:
- Ella Autti, Doctoral Researcher, University of Lapland
- Dr R. Roxane Bodola, PhD, Assistant Professor (Research), Department of Psychiatry, LSUHSC New Orleans.
- Dr Mary Doherty, MB BCh, FCARCSI, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University College Dublin; Honorary Associate Professor, University of Exeter; Consultant Anaesthetist at Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, Ireland.
- Dr Karen Gold, Curriculum Lead, Narrative-Based Medicine Lab, Continuing Professional Development Office, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.
- Dr Sarah Kim, Assistant Professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dance Artist-in-Residence for the Health, Arts & Humanities Program, University of Toronto
- Dr Michael Krasner, MD, FACP, Co-Chief Medical Officer, VP of Education at EmPRO,
- Gemma Lucas, Lecturer and PhD candidate, University of Exeter & Trevor Sytsma, PGY-1 anesthesiology resident, Duke University, US
- Dr Patricia Luck, MBChB, MPhil, MSc Assistant Professor of Health Humanities & Bioethics, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Rebecca Lush, Museum Curator, The University of Queensland
- Monisha Madhumita MD, Dermatologist
- Dr Sarah Malanowski, Instructor of Philosophy, Florida Atlantic University & Dr Nicholas Baima, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Florida Atlantic University
- Dr Gioconda Mojica, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, and Madison Brenner, MS4, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School
- Prof Paula Muhr, Professor of Transdisciplinary Studies at the Brand University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg
- Olagunju Adesewa Precious, Afe Babalola University’s Department of Law, Nigeria.
- Dr Sara Press, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
- Dr Samin Rashidbeigi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
- Dr Sarah Skyrme, University of Manchester
Poster presentations – full details (title, abstract and bios)
- Sofia Bourantoni, University of Cambridge
- Jenny Cunningham, Kingston University
- Vitoria Ibias Flach, University of Edinburgh
- Frances Hand, University of Oxford
- Dr Adam Holland, University of Bristol
- Hannah Kimler, MSW, LICSW, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Erin McCloskey, University of Liverpool
- Dr Naomi Potts, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
- Dr Anna Rajala, Tampere University
- Savannah Steinhauser, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
The conference is available to watch on the Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health YouTube channel; if you would prefer not to be included on recordings, please let the organisers know.
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