Drawing on multiple literatures from history, geography, anthropology, sociology and literature, this essay asks questions about what we mean by region and why narratives of region should matter to the medical humanities. The essay surveys how region can be used as a lens of analysis, exploring the various academic approaches to region and their limitations. It argues that regions are dynamic b...

OBJECTIVES To select and summarize excellent research papers published in 2009 in the field of human factors in bio-medical informatics. METHODS We attempt to derive a synthetic overview of the activity and new trends in this field, from a selection of research papers published in 2009. RESULTS It is possible to identify commonalities in this diverse domain: healthcare information technolog...

BACKGROUND Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) are partnerships between healthcare organisations and universities in England. Their mission is to generate novel treatments, technologies, diagnostics and other interventions that increase the country's international competitiveness, to rapidly translate these innovations into benefits for patients, and to improve efficiency and reduce waste in hea...

Triple Aim’ is the buzzword for the initiatives of the Obama-administration in the US and is referring to a famous article of Don Berwick et al. in 2008 in health affairs asking for better health, better health care, and lower per capita costs. A similar venture started already in 2006 in Germany. One of the most challenging ventures towards reorienting health care in the direction of outcome-o...

There has been considerable interest in images of medicine in popular science fiction and in representations of doctors in television fiction. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to doctors administering space medicine in science fiction. This article redresses this gap. We analyse the evolving figure of 'the doctor' in different popular science fiction television series. Building upon ...

Constantin Stanca (1889-1969) was the first director of the Institute for the Study and Prevention of Cancer from Cluj between 1929 and 1940 and the founder of the Gynecologic Oncology Surgery Department of this Institute. During his important career in gynecology and surgical oncology, which took place in Cluj and in Bucharest, he was also interested in medical sociology and in social medicine...