Happy Christmas from Worcester's Medical Museums

After returning to GMMM in September from Maternity Leave, Louise has had her work cut out remembering what her job was, but thankfully it all came back fairly quickly (sadly, it did not involve taking the rare book’s pillow to a dark corner of the museum and catching up on her sleep…).

Since September we’ve had just shy of 300 people attending our events (which isn’t bad in a few months) including:

  • Five school workshops

  • Talk to Lyppard Five-0 community group

  • Visit from a Medieval Apothecary and their ‘potions’

  • Happy Café for staff and volunteers at Worcestershire Royal Hospital (WITH THERAPY DOGS!)

  • Arts Workshop with local artists Sarah Millin and Andy Round

  • Poetry workshop with Worcestershire’s poet laureate

  • Lecture with Dr. Frank Crompton on the superintendents at Powick Hospital

  • Living autopsy with Dr Suzy Lishman CBE

After a year without a Curator in-house, people have been keen to donate their items, and we’ve now accepted a number of objects including a beautiful ophthalmic refraction kit from Kidderminster Treatment Centre; objects from the medical career of Lt. Col. G H Goddard DSO KGStJ RAMC; archive material relating to the Covid-19 pandemic; and photographs from the Castle Street Branch of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary, among many others!

It’s wonderful to have a Curator in place at The Infirmary Museum, too, and we have been busy at various volunteer fairs and working together to ensure we can shout loud and proud about the history of medicine in Worcester (and beyond). This, of course, includes a joint Christmas tree at Worcester Cathedral’s Christmas Tree Festival in the cloisters.

If you would like to get involved with the museums, there are a number of ways you can do so including volunteering your time and helping to conserve a rare book. Just get in touch if you’d like to find out more. Speaking of which, Louise P would like to thank Louise, Ken and Muriel for their brilliant work on the Reception desk on Fridays in her absence. What a great thing for our visitors to be greeted with upon arrival.

All that’s left is to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We’re planning another event with Worcestershire’s current poet laureate, more Happy Cafés (happier cafés?), and half-term events for the Spring, so watch this space and we’ll see you soon.

Happy Christmas!


THE MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENTS OF POWICK PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM

Evening Lecture with Dr Frank Crompton

Tuesday 6 December, 7:00pm at George Marshall Medical Museum, Lecture Theatre

POWICK PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM: SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS A GREAT SUCCESS, BUT THEN ‘THE DEAD HAND OF FENTONISM’

Frank Crompton has been working on the history of the Worcester City and County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Powick, for more then 20 years. This paper will combine Frank’s interest in the patients of the asylum with an investigation into the first four Medical Superintendents of the institution between 1852 and 1950.

Tickets are free for this historical talk. Please contact us on 01905 760738 or email louise.price10@nhs.net for more information.

Unable to come to us? Join us online via Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 372 748 923 121
Passcode: faBeUd

The talk will be recorded for our YouTube channel.

Images (C) Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service.

Living Autopsy at George Marshall Medical Museum

Join award-winning pathologist Dr Suzy Lishman CBE to find out more about what an autopsy involves. Learn about the effects that lifestyle choices have on the body and how common causes of death are identified. Hear about the respect with which the deceased are treated and how examining the dead can help improve care for the living.

Autopsies (post-mortem examinations) are vital for finding out how and why people have died. At this event you’ll find out how the process has changed over the years and what future autopsies might involve.

Thursday 17 November, 5:30pm

Book online at Eventbrite:- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-autopsy-at-george-marshall-medical-museum-tickets-460759081817

Format

The event includes a description of a conventional autopsy, illustrated with the use of a live model and set of autopsy instruments. Please note, this is not a real autopsy and there is no dead body. There will be an opportunity to talk to the speaker after the event and ask questions.

Royal College of Pathologists

This event forms part of a UK tour marking the 60thanniversary of the Royal College of Pathologists, the membership organisation that sets standards in pathology in the UK (including autopsies), improving services to provide the best care for patients.

 

Health warning

There will be no dead body and no blood or body parts at this event. Despite this, the descriptions are so vivid that members of the audience sometimes feel unwell. If you are squeamish, this may not be the event for you. The event is aimed at over 16s, although younger teenagers, accompanied by an adult, may attend.

Biography

Dr Suzy Lishman CBE is a consultant pathologist and medical examiner. Her award-winning living autopsy has been seen by thousands in real life, and nearly two million people online. In her day job, Suzy specialises in bowel cancer diagnosis and establishing accurate causes of death. Out of work Suzy gives regular talks to schools, specialist societies and the public, and has appeared on numerous television programmes discussing historic murders and diseases such as bubonic plague, syphilis and arsenic poisoning.

“This is a brilliant talk, and exactly what I needed. My friend recently died and a post-mortem is being done because she died very suddenly and didn’t have any known health problems. I found the idea of a post-mortem very unnerving at first but seeing you explain how it’s done, so calmly and with such respect for the deceased, is very reassuring. Thank you”

“This is a brilliant talk, and exactly what I needed. My friend recently died and a post-mortem is being done because she died very suddenly and didn’t have any known health problems. I found the idea of a post-mortem very unnerving at first but seeing you explain how it’s done, so calmly and with such respect for the deceased, is very reassuring. Thank you”

“Thank you so much Dr. Lishman. I appreciate how detailed you are and at the same time emphasising the compassion to both the deceased and their living loved ones. It’s so educational & enlightening at the same time.”