Open to all interested in the history of medicine and healthcare
The 31st BSHM Congress will be held at the University of Leeds
Wed 10 – Sat 13 September 2025
The President and Officers of the British Society for the History of Medicine look forward to welcoming all who are interested in the history of medicine and healthcare to the BSHM Congress at the University of Leeds.
The venue for the meeting is a state-of-the-art conference facility at Cloth Hall Court, a Grade II listed merchant trading hall, situated close to the main railway station in the heart of the city.
The academic programme, which will run for three full days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, will include a mixture of keynote lectures, and oral and poster presentations, relating to the three main themes of the Congress: Herbs, Potions and Magic Bullets; Disability and Rehabilitation; and Medical and Healthcare Learning.
There will also be sessions of presentations on miscellaneous topics in the history of medicine and healthcare based on abstract submissions from delegates.
Congress themes
Herbs, Potions and Magic Bullets
The history of medicines and their uses and abuses across time, culture and modality from herbal remedies through chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs and biologics to hi-tech treatments in Western medicine; traditional, non-Western and Indigenous practices; alternative, controversial and failed approaches; and innovators, practitioners and patients.
Disability and Rehabilitation
The history of physical and mental disabilities, including: the recognition, definition and description of disablement over time; diagnosis, support and self-help; medical, surgical and psychiatric treatment; the challenges, successes and failures of rehabilitation; and the roles of practitioners, experiences of patients, and limitations of healthcare.
Medical and Healthcare Learning
The history of learning in medicine and healthcare in the context of formal and informal organisations and sites involved with research and education in the UK and internationally: medical schools and teaching hospitals, universities and research institutes, medical societies and colleges; key contributions, major protagonists and notable developments.
Miscellaneous Topics
Presentations on diverse subjects in the history of medicine and healthcare, which reflect the broad interests of our community, form an important element of the Congress. The organisers will seek to group presentations on related topics, such as local medical history, in mini-themed sessions where possible.
We will publish information about the preliminary programme, conference registration and abstract submission in early 2025.
