Inspiring medical students to love pathology: the value of pathology museums in teaching pathology

Abstract

Pathology is the study of disease and hence forms the core science of medical practice. The basic philosophy we follow is that in order to gain a true understanding of disease, the student must undertake a journey from past to present and from the cell to the patient. These journeys have to occur simultaneously. Medical and pathology museums need to change to embrace the increasing challenges of modern medical education. The word ‘museum’ conjures an image of ‘relics’, when in essence medical and pathology museums are ‘libraries’. They should be vibrant and evolving teaching resources rather than stagnant exhibitions. The ‘museum’ at University of Queensland is an ‘Integrated Pathology Learning Centre’ and contains displays to illustrate the historical significance of disease, its changing patterns, clinical-radiological-pathological case studies, electronic resources to visualise the 3-D mechanism of disease and access to electronic libraries and podcasts. There are also plans to have joint exhibitions with external collaborators and a ‘Medicine and Law’ exhibition is planned for 2013 with the Supreme Court Library of Queensland. The development of such facility should be central to medical and health curricula in all teaching institutions.