David Ansari, PhD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Faculty Affiliate, Department of Anthropology; Faculty Affiliate, Center for Global Health
Department of Medical Education
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About
I am a health professions education (HPE) and health humanities (HH) scholar with research interests in global HPE and experiences of belonging in HPE. As a cultural and medical anthropologist, I use ethnographic and qualitative methods to examine how learners reflect on the learning environment and their experiences of professionalization, and how health professionals develop interdisciplinary approaches to address complex problems in mental health and end-of-life care.
One area of my research examines aspects of the learning environment that promote or hinder belonging among HPE learners. My book, The Haunted Curriculum: Orchestrating Mental Health Care and Belonging in France, explores how mental health professionals and their students navigate belonging in psychotherapy for refugees and asylum seekers and their descendants. I have introduced this concept to HPE in an article in Medical Education I co-authored with HPE scholars who examine opportunities to rectify aspects of HPE that students find harmful. I led a special issue of Social Science & Medicine with 26 articles that generatively examine how HPE is a space that can better support belonging and innovation.
I have explored belonging and flourishing among medical students and in simulation training. Leading a research team composed of several medical and graduate students, we have published our findings in several flagship academic journals, including Academic Medicine. We are also developing additional publications and public-facing materials that examine how human-based simulation can support improved communication and advocacy practices for patients.
I am developing a new stream of research that examines how a range of health and allied professionals, including doctors, psychologists, dieticians, nurses, and chaplains support the end-of-life needs of patients and their families. My research considers how these professionals go beyond their clinical and caring roles to provide administrative, logistic, and material support.
I teach in our Master of Health Professions Education program and in the College of Medicine. I am committed to supporting students to use a range of conceptual, theoretical, and methodological frameworks to illuminate complex topics in HPE and HH. My courses expose students to challenges and opportunities in these fields, navigate their own settings of practice, and develop practical skills. In addition to my research and teaching, I manage the annual Joseph S. Begando keynote lecture and the monthly Department Research Seminars, and co-chair the 2026 HPE Conference, each of which brings leaders and students in HPE and the health humanities to UIC.