This journal publishes studies of health and medicine that take a rhetorical perspective. Such studies combine rhetorical analysis with any number of other methodologies, including critical/cultural analysis, ethnography, qualitative analysis, and quantitative analysis. Rhetoric of Health & Medicine seeks to bring together humanities and social scientific research traditions in a rhetorically focused journal to allow scholars to build new interdisciplinary theories, methodologies, and insights that can impact our understanding of health, illness, healing, and wellness. 

Announcements

Reviewing for RHM--Overview and Tips

2023-10-23

Recently, the editing team held a "coffee chat" at the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Symposium. For that event, co-editor Kim Hensley Owens prepared this video , which offers an overview and tips for those interested in reviewing for the journal. 

Current Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2026): Spring 2026

Published: 2026-04-01

Editors' Introduction

Tackling Rare Disease Globally

Fernando Sánchez; Kim Hensley Owens

119–127

Abstract

Editors' Introduction to Volume 9 Issue 2

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Research Articles

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting

Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Constructing Risk at Advanced Maternal Age

Melissa L. Carrion

128–150

Abstract

Existing research has explored the rhetoric surrounding women’s health, fertility, and motherhood, as well as the effect of medical discourse...

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To Recover is to Relearn

Techne and Eating Disorder Recovery

Molly McConnell

151–177

Abstract

In this article, the author uses the rhetorical concept of techne, here understood as a repeated engagement involving mind and body, to...

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Psyche or Soma?

An Analysis of the Medical Debates Over the Diagnosis and Treatment of “Transsexualism”

Samantha J. Rippetoe

178–207

Abstract

This article revisits the mid-century medical debate over the “treatment” of transsexualism in the U.S., summarily represented in the most cited...

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Special Section

Opening Keynote

Research Methods, Lyric Theory, and Genres of Believability

V. Jo Hsu

208–233

Abstract

The following article is a rendering of the opening keynote speech given by Dr. V. Jo Hsu at the 2025 Rhetoric of Health and Medicine...

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Book Reviews

Review of Minor Troubles: Racial Figurations of Youth Sexuality and Childhood’s Queerness. Erin J. Rand. Durham, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2025. 248 pages, $34.95 eBook; $34.95 paperback; $99.95 hardcover.

Justiss Wilder Burry
Abstract

Minor Troubles: Racial Figurations of Youth Sexuality and Childhood’s Queerness. Erin J. Rand. Durham, OH: Ohio State University Press,...

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Link to Review

Review of Patient Sense: Rhetorical Body Work in the Age of Technology. Lillian Campbell. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2025. 192 pages, $119.95 hardcover, $34.95 paperback, $34.95 e-book.

Maggie Hart
Abstract

Patient Sense: Rhetorical Body Work in the Age of Technology. Lillian Campbell. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2025. 192...

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Review of Doing Gender Justice: Queering Reproduction, Kin, and Care, Shui-yin Sharon Yam and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025. 221, $39.99.

Clare Frances Kennedy
Abstract

Doing Gender Justice: Queering Reproduction, Kin, and Care, Shui-yin Sharon Yam and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins...

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