Background and activities

Professor in Behavioural Sciences in Medicine (keywords: Bio-Psycho-Social medicine, Clinical communication), at the Department of Public Health and Nursing at NTNU, Researcher at the Research Unit for Generel Practice. Affiliated with the National Research School of General Practice NAFALM.

I have extensive clinical background from general practice, psychiatry and occupational medicine in Norway and Iceland.

PhD thesis: Sustainable and Responsible Preventive Medicine, NTNU (2006)

I have supervised four phd theses and currently supervise three;

Supervised GP and now postoc at UiO Henrik Vogt, Phd: Systems medicine as a theoretical framework for general practice: A critical review, 2017.

Supervised GP and lecturer at University of Iceland Margret Olafia Tomasdottir, Phd:  Multimorbidity in the Norwegian HUNT population: An epidemiological study with reference to the concept allostatic load, 2017. 

Supervised GP ans researcher Halfdan Petursson,  Phd: The validity and relevance of international cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines for general practice, 2012.

Co-supervisor for GP and Associate professor Bente P. Mjølstad, Phd: Knowing patients as persons: a theory-driven, qualitative study of the relevance of person-related knowledge in primary health care, 2015.

Currently supervisong av Phd on Early Palliation in Primary Care (GP Cheneso Moumakwa) and a Phd  on Life experiences and health - a Professional concern (GP Marianne Rønneberg). Co-supervisor for a Project on Use of interpreters in Primary care  by Silje Ohren Strand.

Professional development contributions

I have academically supported The Norwegian College of Generel Practitioners, The Scandinavian Federation for General Practice and later WONCA Europe  in developing Policy documents and Positions papers on Preventive medicine and Preventing Overdiagnosis

Norwegian Policy Document on Preventive Medicine in general Practice 2011 (English Translation) 

Norwegian Position paper on Overdiagnosis and medical excess 2016 (English translation)

WONCA Europe Position paper on Overdiagnosis 2018.

Teaching profile 

I lead our medical factulty's Teaching Unit in General Practice; teaching general practice and behavioral sciences in medicine, with emphasis on the clinical encounter in primary care, bio-psych-social reasoning, communication, professionalism, medicalization, overdiagnosis, sustainability. At the Norwegian Research School for Generel Practice, I run the Ph.d. course Key writings in General Practice.

Biography

Born and educated in Norway, resident in Iceland 1996-2013. Moved back to Trondheim and NTNU 2014. As a young doctor, I started out in Norwegian general practice where I became involved in ideology development and research. In Iceland, I worked with psychiatry and occupational medicine, whilst continuing to cooperate with Norwegian GP colleagues. My Ph.D. thesis “Sustainable and responsible preventive medicine” (2006) focuses on ethical dilemmas related to implementation of preventive, clinical guidelines. Since 2014, I have been a full-time professor at NTNU in Norway. I am married to prof. emeritus in Family medicine Johann Ag. Sigurdsson, University of Iceland and NTNU.

Awards and honors

The Norwegian Marie Spångberg Award for "best original paper autghored by a female medical researcher" in 2005.

The Nordic General Practice Research Prize in 2011.

Nidarosprisen 2019 (The Nidaros prize) for outstanding contribution to development, teaching and promotion of general practice (family medicine)

H. Lyman Hooker Visiting Professor, Mc Master University, Hamilton, Canada in 2015, giving the Carl Moore lecture https://fammedmcmaster.ca/faculty/professional-development/carl-moore-lectureship

 

Keynote lectures and Lectures on You Tube

Throughout the years, I have given a number og keynote lectures or lectures by invitation in Norway, the Nordic countries and beyond.

Examples that have been video recorded are Keynote at the BMJ initiated conference Preventing Overdiagnosis, Oxford (2014): On Crisis, Hubris and the Future of Medicalisation (Or: You ain't seen nothing yet) 

Guest lecture together with prof Bruce McEwen at Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, Radcliffe- Harvard (2016):Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRy_uUWyrEw

In 2016, we organized a seminar on the future of Bio-Psycho-Social Medicine, where I contributed an Interview with prof. Anna Luise Kirkengen,

Scientific, academic and artistic work

A selection of recent journal publications, artistic productions, books, including book and report excerpts. See all publications in the database

Journal publications