SymPCa 2026: Making Sense of Symptoms
Date: Starts September 17th 2026 at 12:00 and ends September 18th 2026 at 17:00.
Place: Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Abstracts: Abstracts can be submitted from November 1st 2025. The deadline for submitting abstracts is March 1st 2026.
Registration: Early bird registration is from February 1st - May 1st 2026. The registration deadline is June 15th 2026.
The 5th SymPCa Symposium is hosted by The Research Unit of General Practice at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in collaboration with The Research Units of General Practice in Aarhus, Copenhagen, and Aalborg, and The Clinic for Functional Disorders at Aarhus University Hospital.
With a focus on primary care, our vision for this interdisciplinary symptom symposium is to engage conversations on symptoms as embodied phenomena that are deeply intertwined with biological, psychological, social, and cultural contexts.
We invite presentations that explore symptoms as embodied, temporal, and fluctuating phenomena, and consider the biological body as well as the broader personal, environmental, social and cultural contexts in which they occur.
Examining symptoms, we suggest, provides a unique lens through which we can understand various aspects of society, the role of primary care, as well as reflect on contemporary patient-healthcare-provider relationships.
We invite presentations that examine symptoms as indicators of disease, as well as presentations that examine symptoms as embodied phenomena shaped by personal experiences, societal norms, and technological advancements. Both perspectives are key to primary care, as a more comprehensive understanding of symptoms may improve both communication, diagnosis, and treatment.
We encourage the research community to engage in the following topics on symptom research in primary care. The four conference themes are to be approached broadly from several perspectives, covering clinical, as well as social, cultural and existential dimensions.
Symposium themes:
- What is a symptom?
- Symptoms in society
- Understanding ‘risk factors’ and ‘causes’ in the development of symptom persistence
- Management and alleviation of symptoms
By examining symptoms through an interdisciplinary lens, we hope to uncover new insights into how symptoms develop, are perceived, communicated, and managed in primary care settings. This approach encourages a composite understanding of symptoms, recognizing their complexity and the various factors that influence their manifestation and interpretation.
We invite researchers from diverse research fields to contribute to this dialogue, bringing together clinical insights, patient experiences, and theoretical perspectives to enrich our understanding of symptoms in primary care.