We offer education support for students who study Medicine Through Time and History of Medicine. With school groups of more than ten currently unable to visit for tours and handling of authentic artefacts, we offer these pages as our gift to students and their teachers. There are films to explain the ideas, 3D models to explore and below is a a (very) short animation covering anaesthetics and antiseptics.
Transformation of Surgery
Did you know that surgery has been done for thousands of years? There is evidence of trepanning on skulls found in France which are 8500 years old! More recently, and in efforts to control the supply of medical treatments and skill, surgeons (and barbers) formed Guilds in the 1500s. By the 1700s the surgeons split to form their own guild and looked to European schools and hospitals to advance their learning.
Throughout human history the problems with surgery remain the same:
Pain
Infection
Blood loss
Advances in medical treatments and scientific discoveries reduced or removed these problems.
Taking three objects from the collections of the George Marshall Medical Museum, we will see how they were used and how they helped move medicine to the modern age.
You will also meet the individuals behind the advances and what their legacies are. Today’s modern medicine has its roots in the 1800s and the individuals who championed scientific thought and took risks, often using themselves as test subjects to trial their ideas.
Click on a any of the objects to find out how they transformed surgery. Come back to this page to visit another, and to find your assignments and debate topics!
Assignments After you have visited the three objects
Surgeons were highly skilled with their tools. This short film shows a technique called “The Circular Method” and a challenge for you afterwards.
Debate Topics
After you have visited the three objects to hear how they solved the problems of blood loss, pain and infection consider the following questions. Grab a classmate and see what they think, too.
Which medical advance do you think is most valuable? The introduction of anaesthetics, or the development of antiseptics?
Are you surprised that many medical professionals initially refused to accept using anaesthetics were a good thing for childbirth? Can you think of a similar debate relevant to the modern world?
Would you risk your own health to trial new drugs or procedures?
Many scientists tested their ideas on animals or patients and themselves! Is this ethical? Consider your answer in light of the benefits like anaesthetics and germ theory that were achieved.
Can you name another English doctor from the 1700s who undertook a famous experiment that would be considered unethical today, but which has saved thousands of lives?
More stories about Dr Robert Liston and his adventures in surgery
Bibliography and Useful Links
BBC Documentaries with Dr Michael Mosely (UK only, not always available)
Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines - Pain (BBC iPlayer)
Michael Mosley discovers what pain is and how we were able to control it with the discovery of morphine at the beginning of the 19th century.
Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines - Pus (BBC iPlayer)
Dr Michael Mosley explores our earliest attempts to tackle infection and how scientists, chemists and doctors from Louis Pasteur to Howard Florey helped us win the battle.
Pain, Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines - Poison (BBC iPlayer)
Dr Michael Mosley explores how scientists went from finding antidotes to poisons to applying poisons as cures, a story that encompasses the planet's most deadly substances.
Body of Work Heritage Podcast Series from Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Glasgow (Podcast)
Episode 1: An intersection of the history of medicine and humanities with poet, Dr Marianne Macrae discussing the work of Joseph Lister and her residency with the College.
Nightingale Diagram from Numberphile (YouTube)
Professor Mike Merrifield discusses diagrams popularized by Florence Nightingale.
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford (podcast)
Florence Nightingale and Her Geeks Declare War on Death
Surgeons’ Hall Museum The Anatomy Lab Blog
The French connection between Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister’s eureka moment that lead to victory over infection.
Funded by West Midlands Museum Development with Art Fund support