Harvey Cushing Symposium 2026: When Patients Know Differently

Artificial intelligence is no longer knocking at medicine's door: it is already in the consultation. Before, during and after an appointment, patients use it to understand a symptom, summarize a medical record, compare treatments, assess risk or prepare questions. Clinicians, meanwhile, are beginning to integrate it into imaging, diagnosis, follow-up and the organization of care pathways. Its rapid arrival is transforming how knowledge is shared, as well as trust, accountability and the experience of care.

The 2026 Harvey Cushing Symposium will bring together physicians, researchers, psychologists, anthropologists, ethicists, digital-health specialists and patient-researchers to examine this new clinical landscape. What is a convincing answer worth if it is incomplete, decontextualized or emotionally overwhelming? How can scientific knowledge, experiential knowledge and algorithmic recommendations be brought into dialogue? Who decides when the patient, the clinician and AI propose different paths? How can medical confidentiality, empathy, consent and equity be preserved, especially for people living with chronic illness, children, older adults and other vulnerable patients?

The aim is neither to celebrate AI nor to keep it at a distance. It is to organize its place in care, define legitimate uses, limits and responsibilities, and build genuinely shared decisions. Drawing on research evidence, clinical situations and lived experience, this Franco-American symposium will offer practical guideposts for medicine enhanced by technology, but governed by the care relationship, prudence, trust and humanity.

Monday, November 16, 2026
American Hospital of Paris – Auditorium
84 boulevard de la Saussaye, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France