The organized museum is to general pathology what the autopsy room is to medicine, what the dissection room is to anatomy, what鈥攖o go further afield鈥攖raveling to see new countries is to the study of geography."
Maude Abbott. The Museum in Medical Teaching. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1905
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 黑料社 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 黑料社. 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 鈥渄eveloped鈥� countries.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Museum is:
- To collect, preserve, conduct research on and teach with material pertaining to the history of medicine of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at 黑料社, its associated teaching hospitals and Quebec society at large
- To provide, maintain and manage a museum for the purpose of education and research
- To make available material from its collections for display at locations nationally and internationally on a non-profit basis for educational purposes
- To honor and remember the individuals who collected and preserved this material and who added much richness to the current understanding of disease and its treatment
- To commemorate the individuals and families who selflessly allowed the collection of this historically valuable material so that others can learn from it
- To treat human remains and other culturally significant material with proper respect and anonymity