What does it take to walk away from a successful medical career and start over as an archaeologist?

In this episode of Social Rounds, Tony Chin-Quee and Frances Mei sit down with archaeologist and former nurse practitioner Katie Chin-Quee to talk about one of the most unconventional career pivots you'll ever hear. Katie shares how years of practicing medicine led her to pursue archaeology, what it's really like studying ancient human remains, and why the transition wasn't as strange as it sounds.

Then the conversation takes a surprising turn into one of archaeology's biggest ethical debates: the booming online market for human bones. Should human remains ever be bought and sold? Who owns the dead? And what responsibilities do museums, collectors, and medical institutions have to the people whose remains they're displaying?

Topics include:

• Leaving medicine for archaeology
• Burnout in healthcare
• Bioarchaeology and paleopathology
• Ancient Egypt and hieroglyphics
• Medical ethics vs archaeological ethics
• The controversial online human bone trade
• Colonialism, museums, and the ownership of human remains
• Why archaeology may have more in common with medicine than you think

If you enjoy thoughtful conversations about medicine, history, ethics, and culture, subscribe for new episodes every week.

Hosted by:

Tony Chin-Quee: @wheyouat

Frances Mei Hardin: @francesmeimd

Guest: Katie Chin-Quee

Connect with Katie: @indiana.joan

Produced by: The Hippocratic Collective