Boston Commands Attention

Abstract

112 EXHIBITION REVIEWS who flew around regional WA delivering over 37,000 doses of polio vaccines on cubes of sugar, earning her the title of ‘sugar-bird lady’. In the re-creation of Dr J.R. Donaldson‘s general practice surgery, his wife Ruth Donaldson’s role as manager of the house and practice for over forty years is noted. If the visitor is prepared for the busyness of the displays, or chooses to focus on one theme each visit, the museum will certainly increase understanding on many aspects ofWesternAustralian medical history. The smorgasbord of objects, photographs, mannequins, and didactics is almost too rich but is a testament to the enthusiasm of the volunteers that created and maintain this charming museum. OONAGH QUIGLEY References Robin Chinnery, Register of Heritage Places – Assessment Documentation King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women (Heritage Council of Western Australia, 2002). Boston Commands Attention The Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation Massachusetts General Hospital, 2 North Grove Street, Boston, MA http://www.massgeneral.org/museum/ A combination of permanent and temporary exhibitions Open Mon–Fri 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, except some public holidays Admission free; disability access Viewed 4 April 2013 [museum launched October 2012] Every so often you come across a museum that takes your breath away. The Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is one of these. There would be few people in the world, and one imagines no medical historians, who are completely unaware of Massachusetts General. It was established in 1811, in the birthplace of the American War of Independence, and everything about it is iconic. Affiliated with the equally iconic Harvard Medical School, MGH has featured in many of the ‘moments’ that are used in teaching the ‘history of medical progress’. Perhaps the best known of these took place in the Health & History ● 16/1 ● 2014 113 extraordinary Ether Dome (extant and now open for public viewing), which stands atop the original MGH. Here it was that one of the contenders for ‘first use of ether during surgery’, dentist William T.G. Morton, performed his ‘miracle’ in 1846. The museum’s very professional glossy brochure proudly lists a number of the breakthroughs that occurred at MGH: the first X-rays in the United States, the identification of appendicitis, the first hospital social service department, and the first ‘replantation of a severed arm’. Such historical hubris is understandable in a hospital with such a powerful presence, and self-regard is in fact the premise on which this museum has been built. Its examination of medical ‘innovation’ provides an inventive perspective through which to explore changes in medical science and practice over the last two-hundred years. And in keeping with this context the museum is housed in a grand, purpose-built structure which proclaims an importance for the history of medicine in a way that is difficult to match! The building presents to the street a wall of glass, with a decorative central section of copper panelling. It is topped with a sail of steel balanced over the roof-top garden and café. At the rear it links to, without quite overshadowing, the Georgian building in which the original hospital superintendent was housed. So we have an imposing building, expensively kitted out with the latest technological gizmos of the museum world, and located in a place most likely to have an impact on the way medical professionals, medical students, and the general public think about the history of medicine. What kind of message will they take away from a visit here? Let us consider first the nature of the permanent exhibits, to try and capture the messages being delivered by this amazing museum. The permanent exhibitions are housed on the first (ground) floor of the three-storey building. The entrance foyer is in a roofhigh atrium, giving the space an airy lightness. A little confusingly, the first display I encountered was intended to be the last one as the displays are arranged thematically in a kind of chronological circle. Responding to my confusion, one of the ‘docents’ (in fact, a medical student waiting on his exam results...