The Maude Abbott Medical Museum is associated with McGill’s Department of Social Studies of Medicine, an interdisciplinary teaching and research unit in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences that offers perspectives from the social sciences and humanities to understand practices and knowledge production in healthcare and medicine.
Individuals or groups who want more information may contact:
Dr. Richard Fraser
Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building
3640 University Street, Room 2/38E
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 0C7
Email: medicalmuseum.med [at] mcgill.ca (medicalmuseum[dot]med[at]mcgill[dot]ca)
Administrative Coordinator
Joan O'Malley
joan.omalley [at] mcgill.ca (joan[dot]omalley[at]mcgill[dot]ca)
Mission Statement
The mission of the museum is to ethically and sustainably collect, conserve, manage, exhibit, research, and teach with artifacts pertaining to the history of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University, its associated teaching hospitals, and Quebec society at large.
Links
Museum Collection Usage Application
Terms and Conditions for Use of Museum Material
Maude Abbott Medical Museum Advisory Board Terms of Reference
Maude Abbott Medical Museum Volunteer Policy
External links
Osler Library of the History of Medicine
Founding of the Maude Abbott Medical Museum
The Museum collection originated around the time of the founding of the Montreal General Hospital (c1822) and the Montreal Medical Institution (1823/24) (the forerunner of the McGill University Medical Faculty). In fact, the most famous artifact in the collection is the Holmes heart, a specimen procured at autopsy in 1822 by Dr. Andrew Holmes, first Dean of Medicine at McGill. A significant proportion of the specimens in the Museum was gathered in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including several hundred by William Osler during the eight years he spent as pathologist at the Montreal General Hospital. Many illustrate diseases or disease processes, such as syphilis, extrapulmonary tuberculosis, rickets and congenital cardiac anomalies, encountered uncommonly today in an untreated state in “developed” countries.
History
The Museum collection originated around the time of the founding of the Montreal General Hospital (c1822) and the Montreal Medical Institute (1823/24) (the forerunner of the McGill University Medical Faculty).
