Ryan M Combs
Title of thesis
Where Gender and Medicine Meet: Transition Experiences and the NHS
Supervisors
Dr Angie Wilson and Dr Nick Turnbull
Planned submission date
2010
Research interests
My thesis focuses on the provision of heath care for trans people as they access transition-related services through the NHS in England. It is specifically concerned with services that have been offered following the ruling in A, D & G vs North West Lancashire Health Authority (1998), which found blanket bans on gender dysphoria treatment in the NHS to be unlawful. Using a qualitative approach, the perspectives of trans services users are compared with that of medical practitioners and Primary Care Trust managers on current provision. I look at the influence of resource restraints and rationing measures on national healthcare arrangements. I also investigate this issue from a theoretical perspective, exploring the ways in which narratives arising from the medical model may conflict with trans people's own understandings of gender. I do this by evaluating how normatively gendered narratives are reinforced or challenged over the course of medical treatment.
Qualitative Methods, Public Policy, Health Policy, Gender and Sexuality, Social Movements
Publications
Durose, C., Gains, F., Richardson, L., Combs, R., Broome, K. and Eason, C. (2010) Pathways to Politics: Stage 2 research: An Interim Report for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. London: EHRC.
Turner, L., Whittle, S., & Combs, R. (2009). Transphobic Hate Crime in the European Union. Brussels: ILGA-Europe/PFC.
Combs, R., Turner, L., & Whittle, S. (2008) The 'Gender Identity Services in England' Mapping Project Report. London: Department of Health/PFC.
Whittle, S., Turner, L., Combs, R., & Rhodes, S. (2008) Transgender EuroStudy: Legal Survey and Focus on the Transgender Experience of Health Care. Brussels: ILGA-Europe.
Conference papers
"The Gender Politics of Trans Health Policy and Practice in England" to be presented at the American Political Science Association (APSA) Conference, Washington D.C., USA. September 2010.
"I was told to get my story straight: The social processes of authenticating gender in medical spheres" presented at the Political Studies Association (PSA) Women & Politics International Conference. Manchester, UK. 19 February 2010.
"Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union: Not for All?" presented at the American Political Science Association (APSA) Conference, Toronto, Canada. 4 September 2009.
"A Unique Position: The European Union's Role in Healthcare Provision for Trans People" presented at the Garnet PhD School on Global Governance, Regionalism & the Role of the EU: The Gender Dimension, University of Kassel, Germany. 1 December 2008.
"The Provision of Care for Gender Variant Individuals within the NHS: Integration or Stigmatisation?" presented at the Governance Representation and Policy Student Symposium, University of Manchester, UK. 16 May 2008.
"Transgender EuroStudy: Legal Survey and Focus on the Transgender Experience of Health Care" presented at the Make Human Rights Work Conference/TGEU Council, Rathaus Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany. 3 May 2008.
Invited Talks
"The Cutting Edge?: Transgender and Social Activism", guest lecture co-sponsored by the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research and the Department of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Louisville (KY), USA. 10 March 2009.
Teaching experience
- POLI 10251 Research and Study Skills (2008/09)
- POLI 20900 Extended Essay (2008/09)
- POLI 30001 Contemporary Political Analysis (2008/09)
- POLI 30300/30380 Dissertation (2008/09)
- POLI 30232 Gender, Sexuality and Politics (2007/08)
Additional Information
- Member of the University of Manchester Comparative Public Policy Research Clsuter
- Member of the University of Manchester Gender Research Network
- Member of the American Political Science Association
- American Political Science Association Sexuality and Politics Section Executive Council