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Dr. Virginia Gill

Professor of Sociology Emerita
Sociology and Anthropology
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Research Interests & Areas

My main research interest is the social organization of doctor-patient interaction. I have used Conversation Analysis to study medical encounters in a variety of settings, including primary care and surgical clinics, and in a clinic for childhood developmental disabilities. My current project concerns how surgeons and newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients discuss surgical treatment options during their consultations.

Ph D Sociology

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

MS Sociology

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

BA Sociology with Honors

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

2012-2013 Outstanding University Teacher Award

Illinois State University
2012

2006-2007 Outstanding College Teacher Award

College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University
2006

2000-2001 University Teaching Initiative Award

Illinois State University
2000

1997-1998 Outstanding Teacher

Panhellenic Association, Illinois State University
1997

University Excellence in Teaching Award

University of Wisconsin, Madison
1992

Department Teaching Award

Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1990

Teaching Fellow Award

College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1990

Book, Authored

Pilnick, A., J. Hindmarsh, and V.T. Gill (eds.) (2010). Communication in Healthcare Settings: Policy, Participation and New Technologies. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Book, Chapter

Clayman, S. and V.T. Gill, "Conversation analysis” (2023). Pp. 67-84 in Michael Handford and James Paul Gee (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis (Second Edition). NY, NY: Routledge.
Clayman, S. and V.T. Gill, "Conversation analysis” (2012). Pp. 120-134 in James Gee and Michael Handford (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Gill, V.T. (2012). "Doing attributions in medical interaction: Patients' explanations for illness and doctors' responses." Reprinted in W. Beach (ed.) Handbook of Patient-Provider Interactions: Raising and Responding to Concerns about Life, Illness, and Disease. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
Gill, V.T. and F. Roberts (2012). "Conversation analysis in medicine." Pp. 575-592 in J. Sidnell and T. Stivers (eds.) Handbook of Conversation Analysis. Oxford, UK:Wiley-Blackwell.
Gill, V.T., T. Halkowski, and F. Roberts (2012). "Accomplishing a request without making one: A single case analysis of a primary care visit." Reprinted in W. Beach (ed.) of Patient-Provider Interactions: Raising and Responding to Concerns about Life, Illness, and Disease. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.

Journal Article

Clayman, S., & Gill, V. Introduction of Douglas W. Maynard for the Cooley-Mead Award. Social Psychology Quarterly 82.1 (2019): 1-4.
Gill, V. 'Breast cancer won't kill ya in the breast': Broaching a rationale for chemotherapy during the surgical consultation for early-stage breast cancer. Patient Education and Counseling 102 (2019): 207-215.
Halkowski, T. and V.T. Gill (2013). "Analisi della Conversazione ed Etnometodologia: la centralità dell’Interazione." ["Conversation analysis and ethnomethodology: The centrality of interaction."] Reprinted in Salute e Società XII (1):183-198.
Gill, V.T., A. Pomerantz, and P. Denvir (2010). "Preemptive resistance: Patients' participation in diagnostic sense-making activities." Sociology of Health and Illness 32 (1): 1-20.
Hudak, P., V.T. Gill, J. Aguinaldo, S. Clark, and R. Frankel (2010). "'I've heard wonderful things about you': How patients compliment surgeons." Sociology of Health and Illness 32 (5): 777-797.

Presentations

"Pre-emptive repair: A procedure for addressing potential misunderstandings in social interaction". National Communication Association. (2019)
"'Does that make sense?': Assuming responsibility for intersubjectivity in surgical consultations for breast cancer". International Conference on Conversation Analysis. (2018)
"'A cancer in your breast is not gonna kill ya': Addressing the risk of death in surgical consultations for early-stage breast cancer". International Pragmatics Association. (2017)
"Asymmetries in the presentation of treatment options during surgical consultations for early-stage breast cancer". Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles. (2016)
"When an option is not an option: Discussions about surgical treatments for breast cancer". American Sociological Association. (2015)
"'I absolutely positively want both of them off': Conflicts about treatment in surgical consultations for early-stage breast cancer". International Conference on Conversation Analysis. International Society for Conversation Analysis. (2014)
"Discussions of surgical treatment for early-stage breast cancer". Conversation Analysis and Clinical Encounters. University of York. (2013)
"Shared decision-making". Conversation Analysis and Clinical Encounters. University of York. (2013)
"Exposing the taken-for-granted: An exercise to introduce EMCA". International Institute for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. (2011)
"Resources for managing response relevance: The case of patients' explanations for illness and doctors' responses". Language, Interaction, and Social Organization Conference. (2011)