News and Events

Call for Papers, 2018 Annual Meeting

The American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) invites abstracts for papers in any area of medical history for its 91st annual meeting, to be held in Los Angeles, California, May 10-13, 2018. The AAHM welcomes papers on the history of health and healing, broadly defined, including the history of medical ideas, practices, or institutions and the history of illness, disease, or public health. Submissions pertaining to all eras and regions of the world are welcome. The Program Committee, led by co-chairs Peter Kernahan (kerna001@umn.edu) and Patricia D'Antonio (dantonio@nursing.upenn.edu), particularly encourage papers and panels that expand the horizons of medical history and engage related fields.

The Program Committee seeks three kinds of submissions:

Individual papers and posters: Speakers should expect to give a presentation of no more than twenty minutes followed by ten minutes of discussion. A limited number of posters will also be displayed in a designated area, with planned times for discussion during the meeting. Both papers and posters must represent original work not already published or in press. Authors wishing to publish their papers are urged to submit them for consideration to the Bulletin of the History of Medicine.

Panels: These consist of three individual papers featuring original scholarship (again limited to twenty minutes each) addressing a common topic. An appointed moderator should submit a proposal for the entire panel and coordinate individual speakers. Each speaker should submit an individual abstract as well. Please note that both panels and the individual abstracts for the papers included in them will be judged collectively and will be kept intact on the program. Panels may also include an invited discussant but must still fit within a ninety-minute session (i.e., fifteen minutes per paper).

Lunch Workshops: Unlike the above, these are intended not for original scholarship, but to address topics of broad interest such as new themes in historiography, teaching, research methods, and advocacy. Workshops focused on media, digital humanities, or non-traditional approaches to teaching and research are encouraged. Though limited to seventy-five minutes, they can include several speakers with a flexible format, and only one abstract need be submitted by the organizer. Any technological requirements should be included in the proposal.

The AAHM uses an online abstract submissions system, accessible through the organization website at http://histmed.org/cfp2018. Submissions must include an abstract (of no more than 350 words) with title, your name and institutional affiliation, three key words that describe your proposed paper, and three Continuing Medical Education (CME) learning objectives (the learning objectives are not considered part of the word count). For suggestions on developing learning objectives, see: http://www.histmed.org/learning-objectives. No late submissions will be accepted.

Over the past two years, the number of abstracts submitted for consideration has increased significantly. The acceptance rate for proposals has decreased accordingly. With this in mind, the Program Committee offers some guidelines for writing a successful abstract.

1. 1. Provide an overview of the problem or story that your paper addresses; include the major actors and interests involved as well as the specific dates or historical time frame of your paper. BIG PICTURE.

2. 2. Contextualize your problem or story within the history of medicine and/or scholarly literature. HISTORICAL/HISTORIOGRAPHIC CONTEXT.

3. 3. Discuss the methods your paper employs to address the problem or story. SOURCES, ANALYSIS, AND PERSPECTIVE EMPLOYED.

4. 4. Present your conclusion or interpretation of the narrative or problem you discuss and state its significance. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS.

5. 5. Include three key words that best describe your paper's focus. KEY WORDS.

6. 6. State three Continuing Medical Education learning objectives for those seeking CME credit. Please note that such credit is vital to many AAHM members. CME OBJECTIVES.

Collections of successful abstracts from selected past programs are available online at http://www.histmed.org/meetings. Individuals are not required to be AAHM members at the time of submitting an abstract, but you mustjoin AAHM before registering for and presenting at the meeting.

Abstracts must be submitted by September 25, 2017.