journal: Asian Journal of Medical Humanities

Open Access Published since May 20, 2022

Asian Journal of Medical Humanities

ISSN: 2751-0069

Editors-in-chief: Yu Cheng, Yulong He

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About this journal

The Asian Journal of Medical Humanities (AJMEDH) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal launched by the Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University in 2022. The primary aim of AJMEDH is to elevate an international platform for interdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations across the medical humanities community. The journal also strives to provide a professional and dedicated publication outlet for original, state-of-the-art research and other scholarly work with academic integrity and ethical rigour. AJMEDH are particularly interested in publishing articles of medical humanities and related disciplines which add value to the knowledge of humanistic care. Disciplines such as medical anthropology, medical sociology, history of veterinary medicine, environmental medicine, multi-species ethnography etc are accepted for submission. In the face of the increasing global health challenges, AJMEDH believes in the notion of "One Health" as an integrated approach to human health practices, and recognises the importance of intercultural competence in medical humanities research to reflect on the healthcare-related multi-species relations.

All submitted papers to AJMEDH undergo double-blinded peer review by a dedicated Editorial Board composed of scholars from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds. AJMEDH accepts submission of various article types as listed below, and also celebrates diversity in scholarship reflecting issues and practices based in different places of origin. Please send your queries regarding research method of your study if you are still unsure about our publication policies.

Submissions in the following fields are welcomed:

Medical Humanities
Medical Anthropology
Literature/Comparative Literature related to Medical Humanities
Multi-species Ethnography
Philosophy of Medicine
Medical Ethics
Medical Sociology
History of Medicine
History of Veterinary Medicine
Geographic Medicine
Environmental Medicine
Medical Law
Ethnic, Racial, Gender, and other Inequities in Health
All other topics related to Medical Humanities

The Asian Journal of Medical Humanities publishes only English-language articles.

The AJMEDH Editorial Office is currently working in close collaboration with guest editors from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai on a Special Issue on: Gender Medicine – Global Perspectives on the Entanglement between Biomedicine, Sociocultural, and Political Construct. Please see the brochure below or contact the editor, Dr Manali Karmakar via manali.karmakar@vit.ac.in and the Editorial Office via ajmh2021@mail.sysu.edu.cn with your direct query.

Please have a look at the call for papers for an upcoming Special Issue:

Special Issue on Gender Medicine

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Online Submission of Manuscripts

Volume 2 Issue 1

January 2023

Review Article

Open Access April 20, 2023

A history of medicine for patient: patient subjectivity and the change of historiography of medicine

Yifang Wang, Liang Yao

Article number: 20230003

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Abstract

Patient’s voice has become louder in recent years. It is a statement of illness, disability, near-death experience, and a cry from the weak, which reveals rich and multiple aspects of patient's physical diseases and mental pain. The groans of patients should not only be treated as reference for decision-making in clinical diagnosis and treatment, but need to be marked down as a voice of the weak in the history of medicine. However, the reality is this voice often stays as physician’s medical records than writings in history of medicine. The mainstream of medical history focuses on how doctors cure diseases, while ignores the role of patients. At times in history of medicine, it was patient’s illness challenged traditional medical theories, provided new perspectives to diagnosis and treatment, and corrected mistakes and prejudice of physicians. Yet, patients benefited very little in the process. Although a few patients miraculously recovered, more became experimental subjects and victims of medicine (Perino L. Patients Zéro: Histoires inversées de la médecine (Chinese edition). France: La Découverte; 2020). Tracing the change of the understanding on patient subjectivity in history of medicine, this paper aims to call for a rise of history of medicine centered on patients.

Research Articles

Open Access November 27, 2023

The medical treatment exclusion in Asia’s patent legislation

Kiyoshi Adachi

Article number: 20230013

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Abstract

This study examines the variations within Asia of how Article 27.3(a) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), allowing Parties to remove from patentability diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans and animals, is implemented. The medical treatment exclusion is one of several important provisions in the TRIPS Agreement that are designed to support domestic public health objectives and countries’ overall scientific and technological aspirations. Examples of this exclusion in the respective patent policies of South, Southeast and East Asia countries and territories are examined, and peculiarities in the variations among countries in these sub-regions are identified. While most jurisdictions in the data set incorporated some form of a medical treatment exclusion, variations were found in how the exclusion is implemented, the rationale given for excluding medical treatments, and the scope of the exclusion.

Open Access November 23, 2023

A study of end-of-life care communication and decision-making in China by exploring filial piety and medical information concealment

Elaine Dabin Jeon, Jun Jing

Article number: 20230006

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Abstract

Objectives This paper examines end-of-life care communication and decision-making in mainland China by exploring their connection with filial piety and the concealment of medical information from patients by their families. Methods A textual analysis was performed by utilizing descriptive information from 349 semi-structured interviews with family and professional caregivers between 2021 and 2023 in 15 Chinese provinces. In addition to a word search for filial piety and the concealment of medical information from patients by their families, this study features seven personal accounts. Results Of all the interviews, 26.9 % (303 mentions) and 11.7 % (86 mentions) contain statements about filial piety and the concealment of medical information, respectively. The interviews suggest that the autonomy of elderly patients is suspended when disclosure of medical information and decisions for end-of-life care are controlled by family members – in particular, adult children out of a strong sense of filial piety. Conclusions The authors recommend advance care planning (ACP) as a structured approach to discussing the patient’s care preferences near the end of life. In China, relational autonomy is a key to such approach, with culturally sensitive dialogues toward building a consensus among patients, relatives, and medical staff. Only then could end-of-life care place individual agency on par with family responsibility motivated by filial piety. China can look to other Asian countries and territories for family-centered ACP experiences in embracing the inseparable role of family in end-of-life care decisions to guide its implementation of the recent Shenzhen legislation and more patient-oriented practices going forward.

Open Access July 18, 2023

Narrative research on the stories about mystery and the spiritual beings of medicinal herbs in ancient China

Su Xiao

Article number: 20230012

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Abstract

Objectives This paper takes the folk stories of ancient Chinese medicinal herbs as the research object, aiming at depicting the understanding of the relationship between human beings and nature, spiritual beings and immortals in the conceptual world of Chinese people. Methods Morphological research method is adopted to focus on the text of folk stories and relevant cultural significance. Results Since the Tang Dynasty, the records about medicinal herbs becoming spiritual beings and people becoming immortals after consuming them have been widely spread. Among them, three types of stories are the most representative: one is ginseng transforming into an old man or a boy, the other one is tuckahoe transforming into a child, and the last one is the Chinese wolfberry transforming into a dog. Conclusions The story of “consuming spiritual beings and becoming immortals” not only reveals the narrative rules of the orderly upgrading from low to high among plants, spiritual beings, human beings, and immortals but also reflects our ancestors' ultimate pursuit of longevity and becoming immortals. Relevant research on this topic could be beneficial to the presentation of the knowledge-generating process of the Chinese ancient folk culture and promote the theoretical construction of Chinese stories.

Open Access April 28, 2023

On the local practice of narrative palliative care

Fei Li, Xiaohong Ning, Zhong He, Jingwen Fang, Jianli Wang, Li Hou, Yuhong Jiang

Article number: 20220008

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Abstract

Objectives In Mainland China, Hospice and Palliative Care are making significant progress; and meanwhile, Narrative Medicine is going through a process of localization in both theory and practice. Since the integration of the two areas in medicine, it is worth exploring practice on narrative palliative care more deeply. Methods Some of the authors have been collecting teaching cases in several cities by the research methods of anthropology (participant observation, in-depth interview and visual ethnography). Results Based on presenting a case and teaching feedback, this paper tries to show our effort in promoting and integrating Narrative Medicine education into the field of Palliative Care practice. And then we would try to explain it from two perspectives. Conclusions The work of education, research and clinical practice on narrative medicine in hospice and palliative care, can help us make sense of the end of life and especially help those medical students become capable of seeing the suffering around them in medical training.

Article Commentary

Open Access November 6, 2023

Culture vultures: HIV/AIDS, structured disparities and stigma in Sindh province of Pakistan

Inayat Ali

Article number: 20230005

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Abstract

The transmission rate of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is significantly increasing in Pakistan, which amounts to the second most rapid spread in Asia. In early 2019, the media reported on a HIV outbreak in the Taluka (sub-district) of Ratodero, located in the Larkana district of Pakistan’s Sindh province. In just one village, approximately 1,150 cases were diagnosed. Unfortunately, most of them were children. The outbreak, on the one hand, is a result of a conjuncture of local, national, and global economic and political inequalities. On the other hand, it is multiplying the adverse consequences for the economically and politically marginalized segments of society, such as children and women. This paper proposes strategies to address the outbreak and provides model questions for studying it. Outbreaks such as HIV pose a significant challenge to human existence. They require specific attention at different levels in order to be dealt with effectively. They require studies to examine the crucial role of sociocultural, economic and political factors in their origin and prevalence as well as the impact of sociocultural differences on the outcome.

Volume 2 (2023)

Issue 1

Volume 1 (2022)

Issue 1

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Editorial

Editor-in-Chief
Yulong He, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China

Executive Editor-in-Chief
Yu Cheng, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China

Associate Editors
Karen Thornber, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Kaveh Khoshnood, Yale Public Health School, New Haven, CT, USA
Jun Jing, Tsinghua University, Peking, China

Academic Counsellors
Zhibin Yao, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, China
Haihun Zhai, Hebei Medical University, China
Zhong Yuan, Peking Union Medical College, China

Editorial Board Members
Bo Zhou, Guangzhou University, China
Angela Fan, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan
Chaonan Qian, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Chengwei Wang, Tsinghua University, China
Cheng Zhou, Peking University, China
Chengpu Yu; Sun Yat-sen University, China
Daqing Zhang, Peking University, China
Dawei Pan, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Duujian Tsai, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan
Elisabeth Hsu, Oxford University, UK
Feng Cheng, Tsinghua University, China
Guanghong Zhao, Wuhan City College, China
Guanyang Zou, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, China
Hao Li, Wuhan University, China
Hongyu Sun, Peking University, China
Huiling Li, SoochowUniversity, China
Hyeon-Jung Lee, Seoul National University, Korea
Jie Hu, Hebei Medical University, China
Jing-Bao Nie, Otago University, New Zealand
Jinghong Nie, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Jinhua Guo,associate pro, Peking University, China
Jiong Tu, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Joseph Lau, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hongkong
Joseph Tucker, The University of North Carolina, USA
Jun Jing, Tsinghua University, China
June Zhang, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Junrong Liu, Guangzhou Medical University, China
Lai Sze Tso, Gustavus Adolphus College, USA
Langshu Zhou, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
Lihong Du, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Liping Guo, Peking University, China
Lun Li, Dalian University of Technology, China
Marta Hanson, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
Meifeng Zhang, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Mingxu Wang, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
Ni Gong, Jinan University, China
Qian Liu, Renmin University of China, China
Qian Tian, Xinan University, China
Qingshan Geng, Shenzhen People's Hospital, China
Ruwei Hu, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Seung-Mi Han, Yonsei University, Seou, South Korea
Shuiyuan Xiao, Zhongnan University, China
Tae-Woo Kim, Kyunghee University, College of Korean Medicine, Korea
Tianshu Pan, Fundan University, China
Xiaolin Yang, Southern Medical University, China
Xinqing Zhang, Peking Union Medical College, China
Yali Cong, Peking University, China
Yan Xu, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Yang Yang, Dalian Medical University, China
Yifang Wang, Peking University, China
Yonghui Ma, Xiamen University, China
Youchun Zhang, Renmin University of China
Yu Cheng, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Yue Wang, Peking University, China
Yuhong Jiang, Peking Union Medical College, China
Yulong He, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Yunxiang Yan, The University of California, USA
Zhanchun Feng, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Zhongyu Duan, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, China

Editorial Office
Joseph Lin, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
Contact: ajmh2021@mail.sysu.edu.cn

(Deutsch)

Type: Journal
Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
First published: May 20, 2022
Publication Frequency: 1 Issue per Year