Finnish Medico-Historical Society

Nordic Medical History Congress 2023

Themes and topics
The theme of the 28th Nordic Medical History Congress is Connections, Exchanges, Collegiality. This larger framework has been broken up into the following five sub-topics that we hope all abstract submissions will somehow relate to.
1. Scientific networks
Networks, groups, and communities have been in a central role in the history of medical science. They have been venues for scientific discussion, spreading knowledge, and securing careers. They have also held significant power within the medical profession as well as far larger areas, such as administrations, countries, and non-governmental organisations. Established networks have often had an important role in forming policies regarding healthcare and disease prevention. Scientifically notable networks may have, however, also been of a much more private nature, taking the form of academic relationships, correspondence, and joined projects. The theme can be approached in many ways, and it is not limited to medical science, as scientific networks have often been of a multidisciplinary nature.
2. Collaboration and co-operation
This theme is intended to be interpreted in a broad sense. It can refer to co-operation across national or political borders, but also across other lines and divides, such as those between fields or professions that would usually be seen as rivals. Examples of such practices could be doctors working alongside surgeons, physicians aligned with rivalling schools of thought, or people representing different healing traditions. The theme can also be explored within other contexts of co-operation; for example, physicians may have co-operated with the clergy, or laypeople with educated professionals.
3. Technological advancement
While technological innovations have been critical in the history of medicine, health, and healing, they are relatively overlooked. Oftentimes these developments have been outcomes of widespread co-operation, teamwork and the exchange of ideas, without which a single actor would have been unable to actualise the undertaking. There has also traditionally been a considerable bias in which research is focused on “successful” or “triumphant” innovations that did end up changing medical science and the world. With this theme, we encourage scholars to examine the greatly diverse and multi-faceted role technology has played in medical history.
4. Public health and preventive medicine
Treatments and diagnoses often take the lead in the field of medical history. The roles of planned public health measures, co-operative efforts, and research are, however, equally important, as are the many forms of preventive medicine and healthcare. Examples of topics include the establishment of infirmaries, sanitary facilities, hygienic improvements, information campaigns, nutritional research and advice, and prophylaxes such as vaccines. The history of occupational healthcare, environmental medicine, and the prevention and management of disease outbreaks may also be explored within this theme.
5. Professional communities
This sub-theme overlaps to an extent with the first one. It focuses, however, more on the practical, communal, and emotional aspects of professional groups. Professional communities, as an important factor in the professionalisation of medicine, have granted their members peer support, second opinions, guidance, and pragmatic know-how. They have been crucial in the everyday work of medical professionals, and acted as bridges between generations, ensuring that knowledge built upon experience has been passed on. Such communities have not necessarily been limited to people of the same educational background; they may also have been more diverse and lacked clear borders.
Technical guidelines
Due to additional interest in the congress we have decided to open late abstract submision which ends on March 31st 23.59. We will inform all applicants of our decision to include them in our program individually after receiving their abstract.
Please submit your abstract as an attachment via e-mail to abstracts[at]nmhc2023.fi. We kindly ask you to send us the file in the .docx or .pdf format.
Abstracts should clearly state the topic and scope of the proposed presentation. All presentations will be held at the congress in oral form. The maximum length for the abstract is 300 words; in addition to this, please include the title of your presentation along with a few keywords. We also ask you to indicate how your topic ties into one or several of the five sub-themes. The abstracts will be printed on the congress material but will not be published on the congress website. Please also attach to your abstract a short biographical note, for which the maximum length is 150 words. This should include your title, affiliations, and main research interests. The biographical note must be written in third person form. We also kindly ask you to include your gender or your preferred pronouns.
As the official language of the congress is English, both the abstract and the presentation itself must be in English. Only individual abstracts are accepted. If you are working in the same research group or otherwise plan to attend the congress together with other people submitting an abstract, you may indicate this in the biographical note. Please note that in line with the official guidelines of the University of Helsinki, we cannot accept abstracts from researchers affiliated with Russian or Belarusian universities or research facilities at this time.
If you have any questions related to abstract submission, we are glad to answer them. Please e-mail us at contact[at]nmhc2023.fi.