Skip to main content
Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Dr. Virginia Gill

Professor of Sociology Emerita
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall
Office Phone
(309) 438-8668office
phone
Email
vtgill@ilstu.eduemail
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Selected Research

Research Interests & Areas

I study social interaction in everyday and institutional settings, with a focus on the social organization of doctor-patient interaction. I have used Conversation Analysis to study medical encounters in a variety of contexts, including primary care and surgical settings. My current project concerns how surgeons and newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients discuss surgical treatment options.

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

University Excellence in Teaching Award

University of Wisconsin, Madison
1992

Graduate Student Paper Award

American Sociological Association, Section on Social Psychology
1991

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

Communication in Healthcare Settings: Policy, Participation and New Technologies
Alison Pilnick, Jon Hindmarsh, Virginia Gill.
(2010), Wiley-Blackwell

Book, Chapter

Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis, and the Study of Interaction in Everyday Life
Douglas W. Maynard, Virginia Gill.
(2024), 512-540, The Cambridge Handbook of Methods in Conversation Analysis, Cambridge University Press
Conversation Analysis
Steven E. Clayman, Virginia Teas Gill.
(2023), 67-84, The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Routledge
"Conversation analysis in medicine"
Virginia Gill, Felicia Roberts.
(2012), 575-592, Handbook of Conversation Analysis, Blackwell
"Conversation analysis and ethnomethodology: The centrality of interaction"
Timothy Halkowski, Virginia Gill.
(2010), 212-228, Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Health Research, Sage
"When patients present serious health conditions as unlikely: Managing potentially conflicting issues and constraints"
Anita Pomerantz, Virginia Gill, Paul Denvir.
(2007), 127-146, Discursive Research in Practice: New Approaches to Psychology and Interaction, Cambridge University Press
"Explaining illness: Patients' proposals and physicians' responses"
Virginia Gill, Douglas Maynard.
(2006), 115-150, Communication in Medical Care: Interaction between Primary Care Physicians and Patients, Cambridge University Press

Journal Article

Pre-emptive repair of potential misunderstandings: Prospective procedures for steering social action
Chase Wesley Raymond, Virginia Teas Gill.
American Sociological Review, 90 (4), 690-725, (2025)
'Breast cancer won't kill ya in the breast': Broaching a rationale for chemotherapy during the surgical consultation for early-stage breast cancer
Virginia Gill.
Patient Education and Counseling, 102, 207-215, (2019)
"'I've heard wonderful things about you': How patients compliment surgeons"
Pamela Hudak, Virginia Gill, Jeffrey Aguinaldo, Shannon Clark, Richard Frankel.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 32 (5), 777-797, (2010)
"Preemptive resistance: Patients' participation in diagnostic sense-making activities"
Virginia Gill, Anita Pomerantz, Paul Denvir.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 32 (1), 1-20, (2010)
"Beyond 'doctor and patient': Developments in the study of healthcare interactions"
Alison Pilnick, Jon Hindmarsh, Virginia Gill.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 31 (6), 787-802, (2009)
"Patient 'demand' for medical interventions: Exerting pressure for an offer in a primary care clinic visit"
Virginia Gill.
Research on Language and Social Interaction, 38 (4), 451-479, (2005)
"Accomplishing a request without making one: A single case analysis of a primary care visit"
Virginia Gill, Timothy Halkowski, Felicia Roberts.
TEXT, 21 (1/2), 55-81, (2001)
"Doing attributions in medical interaction: Patients' explanations for illness and doctors' responses"
Virginia Gill.
Social Psychology Quarterly, 61 (4), 342-360, (1998)
"On 'labeling' in actual interaction: Delivering and receiving diagnoses of developmental disabilities"
Virginia Gill, Douglas Maynard.
Social Problems, 42 (1), 11-37, (1995)