Faircloth Evening of Medical Humanism
Date: Thursday, March 7
Time: 5:30 - 8 p.m.
Location: Oakland University
Oakland Center
Banquet Room A
Please join Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and the Oakland University School of Education and Human Services in welcoming Rachel E. Gross for an evening of medical humanism.
Medicine has never quite known what to do with the clitoris. Because it's intimately bound up in female sexuality and pleasure yet not strictly involved in procreation, it makes a lot of doctors uncomfortable. We’ll take a brief tour of the history of the clitoris in Western medicine, looking at how this crucial organ has been erased, ignored, and pathologized, and how that history has shaped gynecological healthcare today. We’ll also look at how medicine is beginning to address this bias through better training in vulval anatomy and efforts to update inaccurate and biased language.
Ms. Gross is an award-winning science journalist who writes about gender bias and marginalized voices in medicine for The New York Times, Scientific American, BBC, and others. She is the author of “Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage,” a New York Times Editors’ Pick and finalist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award in Literary Science Writing. Previously, she was a 2018-19 Knight Science Journalism Fellow and the digital science editor of Smithsonian magazine. Her investigation into medicine’s failure to research the clitoris was one of NYT’s most-shared articles of 2023. Her NYT column, BODY LANGUAGE, explores the impact of medical language on patients, and research.
Read more about Ms. Rachel E. Gross on her website.
About the Faircloth Evening of Medical Humanism
The Faircloth Evening of Medical Humanism is a collaboration between OUWB and the School of Education and Human Services Department of Counseling at Oakland University. It represents our deeply held commitment to the humanistic aspects of patient care.
Gold Humanism Honor Society Induction Ceremony
Following the guest presentation, OUWB medical students and Beaumont Health residents will be inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Additionally, the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards will be presented. The society is a national association that recognizes students and medical professionals who are exemplars of compassionate patient care and leadership.
Counseling Department Student Awards of Excellence
Students from the School of Education and Human Services will receive the yearly Student Awards of Excellence from SEHS Counseling Department to recognize their exceptional achievements.
Contact Information
Please email Jason Wasserman, Ph.D., professor of Bioethics at OUWB with questions about the event at [email protected], or Mary Hooker, [email protected] for general information. RSVP by March 1.
