Medical tourism is an increasingly popular feature of health care today. Yet it is not always recognised that, throughout their history, hospitals have attracted patients from afar seeking cures, both spiritual and physical, not available at home. While much work has previously focused on the institution as a fixed place, often closely associated with a specific locality, the hospital’s role as a focus for a wider network of health needs and health consumers has been largely overlooked. This neglected topic will be the focus of this conference.

From its inception the hospital provided care and cure for pilgrims, either en route to, or on their arrival at, shrines, as well as for patients from beyond the urban centre, some from local areas and others travelling great distances to access treatment. These institutions were also distinguished by their architectural and artistic heritage, being decorated with paintings and sculptures, some of which still survive today and depict pilgrims, the poor and the sick. Although many buildings have disappeared or been transformed over time, others remain that reflect their original size and beauty and are important destinations for tourism.

Over the centuries major man-made crises such as war have prompted the introduction of many forms of mobile hospital. Among them were the first ambulances, the medical units that traveled with troops on campaign, and the sophisticated network of treatment stations developed by the combatants of the First World War, including hospital trains with more patients than a London teaching institution. Hospitals have also featured at the heart of migration stories – with staff moving around empires and across borders to acquire medical training and to assist a growing body of patients, whose access to hospital medicine has been limited by poverty, race, lack of citizenship, or the unavailability of specialist services locally. In many parts of the world, and especially in areas with limited healthcare infrastructure or widely dispersed population, hospitals came to the patients, with a variety of mobile institutions being developed to serve the sick in Africa, Russia, Central Europe and across Asia. These many activities reflect the variety of topics that can be included in our theme of Travel and the Hospital.

Read the April 2019 INHH Conference Program (PDF format 900kB)

Book your place at the conference and your accommodation

The conference will take place at: Faculty of Geography and History (UB), c. Montalegre, 6 Universitat de Barcelona and Amics de l’Art Romànic / Institut d’Estudis Catalans and, Biblioteca de Catalunya, c. Carme, 47

Fees for the conference are:

a) Partial registration fee: 30€ until the 31st of march of 2019. Starting this same date, the registration fee will be 50€. This registration will grant the right to participate in the conference, take part in the planned tours, the coffee-breaks and two brunches.

b) Full registration fee: 60€ until the 31st of march of 2019. Starting this same date, the registration fee will be 100€. This registration will grant the right to attend the conference dinner on the 25th of April.

For details of how to register please email abrils.hospital@ub.edu

Master’s students and PhD candidates, as well as doctors who have defended their thesis between 2017-2019 can ask for free registration, provided that they present a paper or a poster. Those who might be eligible should send an e-mail to abrils.hospital@ub.edu before the 15th of February 2019.

Accommodation costs will be assumed in their entirety by the attendees. Since the University of Barcelona does not have an agreement with any of the city’s hotels, we suggest booking early.

Organizing Committe: Antoni Conejo (University of Barcelona), John Henderson (Birkbeck, University of London, UK), Barry Doyle (University of Huddersfield, UK), and Joana Balsa de Pinho (University of Lisbon)

Collaboration: Meritxell Simó, Marta Sancho, Salvatore Marino, Pol Bridgewater, Jaume Marcé (University of Barcelona), Núria Altarriba (Biblioteca de Catalunya), Mercè Beltran (Recinte Modernista del Sant Pau), and Francesca Español (Amics de l’Art Romànic, IEC)