47th Annual Osler Lectureship
Wednesday, 6 November 2024
6:00 PM
The Jonathan C. Meakins Amphitheatre
Room 521 - McIntyre Building
Roger Kneebone, Imperial College, UK 
Medicine- the art of the expert performer
What clinicians can learn from the performing arts
In the hands of an expert, clinical practice appears effortless. Each patient feels safe and cared for while their problem is explored, diagnosed and resolved by a wise and compassionate clinician. Yet this apparent simplicity requires decades of thoughtful work and preparation.
In this lecture I link my own experience as a surgeon, a family physician and a clinical educator with insights I have gained through collaborating with musicians, dancers, actors, puppeteers and close-up magicians. I outline my research into what it means to become expert and show how William Osler’s legacy continues to resonate with all of us today.
Roger Kneebone is Professor of Surgical Education and Engagement Science at Imperial College London and co-directs the Royal College of Music–Imperial Centre for Performance Science. His multidisciplinary research into contextualised simulation and embodied knowledge builds on his personal experience as a surgeon and a general practitioner and his fascination with domains of expertise beyond medicine. Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery (Penguin, 2021)
Previous Osler Lectures
The 46th Annual Osler Lectureship: Gordon Guyatt, MD: How evidence-based medicine has - and has not - changed the world. Watch here. Photos Osler lecture & banquet
The 45th Annual Osler Lectureship: Michele Goodwin, SJD, LLM: Policing The Womb In the Wake of the American Judiciary. Watch here
The 44th Annual Osler Lectureship: Cynthia Blackstock, PhD: Equity + Culture = Healthy Kids. Watch here
The 43rd Annual Osler Lectureship: Richard K. Reznick, MD: 'Make no little plans': how a systems-based approach can transform medical education. Watch here
The 42nd Annual Osler Lectureship: Jacalyn Duffin: McGill Medicine on Easter Island: the Forgotten Expedition
The 41st Annual Osler Lectureship: Mark A Ware: 100 years of cannabis: a journey from William Osler to the modern era. Watch here
The 40th Annual Osler Lectureship: Susan Reverby, PhD: Infamous Medical Research: Bad Guys, Duped Victims, or Something Else? Watch here
The 39th Annual Osler Lectureship: Julio Montaner: Treatment as Prevention (TasP): From a research hypothesis to a new global target and beyond. Watch here
The 38th Annual Osler Lectureship: E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. "The Strangest Disease: The Peculiar Past but Hopeful Future of Schizophrenia" Watch here
The 37th Annual Osler Lectureship: Margaret Lock. "The Alzheimer Enigma in an Aging World." Watch here