Body of Work Heritage Podcast

Welcome to Body of Work, the heritage podcast from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. This podcast is all about celebrating collaborations and celebrating them through medical heritage. Each episode will feature a different professional who has worked with us here at the heritage department; we chat about their work, and what drew them to it. We also geek out a bit on medical heritage! This week’s guest is Jane Chiodini, a travel health specialist and former Dean of the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the College. Jane has a background in nursing and became the first nurse in England to obtain an MSc in Travel Medicine from the University of Glasgow. Jane has been a part of the College for many years and a prize for diplomates of Travel Medicine was launched in her name in 2022, the Jane Chiodini Prize, but I’ll let her talk about that…

This week’s guest is Maggie Reilly. Maggie is recently retired, having worked as the Curator of Zoology at the Hunterian for many years. The Hunterian is a complex of world-renowned museums in Glasgow housing the collections of Dr William Hunter, a pioneering obstetrician and anatomist of the 18th century. Maggie’s role covered the curation of the zoological specimens and anatomical specimens housed in the Hunterian collection. She is also an active member of the College’s heritage committee and has helped with a few of our outreach events, but I’ll let her talk about that…

This week’s guest is Mr Thisara Weerasuriya. Thisara is a specialty doctor in trauma and orthopaedics, as well as an honorary senior lecturer of the medical school at the University of Glasgow.  Thisara is a member of the advisory committee of the College for equality, diversity and inclusion, and collaborated with the heritage department on one of our Reframed events, ‘A history of the first South Asian Licentiates’, but I’ll let him talk about that…

This week we are speaking to Elena Trimarchi. Elena is the Learning and Engagement Manager at the David Livingstone Birthplace Museum in Blantyre. A museum originally set up to celebrate the life of the Scottish medical missionary, the David Livingstone Birthplace Museum is one of Scotland’s pioneering museums addressing issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion. Elena actively works in reframing the story of David Livingstone, and worked with us in our Reframed event looking at the life of Livingstone and how Scotland presents the white saviour complex, but I’ll let her talk about that…

We are back for season 3 of Body of Work! This week's guest is Professor Miles Fisher. Professor Fisher is a retired consultant physician and diabetes specialist. He worked at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for over 20 years and was appointed honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow in 2010. He was Vice-President (Medical) of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow from 2011-14 and still plays an active role in the College today. His recent research has focused on the history of the use of insulin in Scotland, with the first case in Glasgow being in 1923. He is also a keen cyclist (!), but I’ll let him talk about that…

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Time for our new series of BITEsize podcast episodes! Body of Work Bites will take you through stories from the College's heritage in short, digestable episodes. Join Digital Heritage Officer, Kirsty Earley, and Library and Heritage Manager, Clare Harrison, as they bring you the stories behind some of the College's heritage collections.

Another one?! Another bonus episode?! In this week’s episode, we pull back the curtain to interview Body of Work’s creative director and host, Kirsty Earley. Kirsty is the Digital Heritage and Engagement Officer at the College, with a background in anatomy and medical visualisation. She has worked over the years in digitising the College’s heritage collections as well as creating visualisation products to tell the stories of the College’s past. Join special host, Kristin Hay, as she chats to Kirsty about her work in anatomy, how the pandemic has brought digitisation to the forefront, and her love for Assassin’s Creed.

This week’s guest is Kristin Hay. Kristin is a doctoral researcher in the history of health and medicine at the University of Strathclyde, and has worked with us at the College as a PhD research intern. Her focus has been on gender inequality in the College’s history, specifically looking at the College minutes of our archive collection. In this episode we will chat about the hurdles medical women faced in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as Kristin’s experience of working with the heritage team!

This week’s guest is Sarah Spence, a Welcome Trust PhD candidate in Medical Humanities/Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow. Her research looks into stigmatised health conditions usually associated with Scottish public health in recent Scottish literature. She ran a creative writing workshop during the pandemic using our collections, allowing writers to access our collecitons digitally to inspire their stories. In this episode we chat about the Glasgow Effect, tips for writer's block, and a cat named Smirnoff!Feel free to email us with any questions: library@rcpsg.ac.ukFollow us on twitter: @rcpsgheritage

This week’s guest is Francis Osis. Francis has recently completed his doctorate looking into 18th century scientists and how they perceived sex and venereal diseases, using anatomical specimens to do so. We have worked with Francis before at several outreach events, including our Night at the Museum of Anatomy events. In this episode we chat about whether science is truly objective, extracting DNA from historical specimens, and the Derwent Pencil Museum!Feel free to email us with any questions: library@rcpsg.ac.ukFollow us on twitter: @rcpsgheritage

This week’s guest is Dr Megan Coyer, a Senior Lecturer at the School of Critical Studies of the University of Glasgow. Megan is also the Deputy Director of the Medical Humanities Research Centre and has wide range of research interests in the field. In this episode we chat about her research into the Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, the authors who published in it, and what on earth Robert Burns has to do with phrenology! Feel free to email us with any questions: library@rcpsg.ac.ukFollow us on twitter: @rcpsgheritage

This week’s guest is Professor Ian Bone. Professor Bone is a retired neurologist who worked as a consultant at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow for many years. He is a member of the heritage committee at the College and has recently published a book on the history, cultural associations, and social impact of epilepsy. In this episode we chat about his book Sacred Lives, why he chose to pursue a career in neurology, the personal experiences he has had with epilepsy, and making model boats!Feel free to email us with any questions: library@rcpsg.ac.ukFollow us on twitter: @rcpsgheritage

This week’s guest is Dr Ourania Varsou, a Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow. Ourania teaches anatomy to a variety of students at the university, and specialises in the anatomy of the head and neck, as well as medical imaging. She has a keen interest in medical humanities, and has worked with us looking into how women have been portrayed in medical books throughout history. In this episode we chat about her research into the portrayal of women and the importance of the medical humanities in the modern medical curriculum. Feel free to email us with any questions: library@rcpsg.ac.ukFollow us on twitter: @rcpsgheritage