MUSEUM BLOG
Explore our blog to learn about pieces from Canada’s largest collection of medical artifacts, discover the lesser-known history of health care, or hear about all of the exciting developments at the Canadian Museum of Health Care.
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The Story of Dr. Kenneth Fenwick and His Complex Legacy
Today, we’re looking at a story that may not be as inspiring as many that could be told. It is an important story nonetheless. This is the story of Dr. Kenneth Neander Fenwick (1852-1896), and the women from whom he sought to deprive a medical education.
(IV) Hook-ups: Cystic fibrosis and intravenous antibiotics
Antibiotics have been a mainstay of CF treatment throughout the decades. This simple statement, however, obscures their various manifestations in the lives of people with CF. The principles may have been similar in 1950 and 1990, but the experiences were vastly different. Material culture illuminates the changes that textual references can obscure, as exemplified here by the objects of intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment for CF lung infections.
The Story of James Sampson and the History of Kingston
James Sampson had a significant impact on Kingston's history and development.
Ignaz Semmelweis: The Saviour of Mothers
Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) was a Hungarian doctor who, during his tenure as an assistant professor at the Obstetrics clinic in the Vienna General Hospital, became interested in learning why so many women were dying from puerperal fever, which was colloquially called childbed fever.
The Story of Sir Henry Wellcome and the Wellcome Collection
Born in a log cabin in Almond, Wisconsin, in 1853, Henry Wellcome was one of the most influential pharmacological entrepreneurs and an avid collector of medical artefacts.
The Story of Jennie Trout and Women in Medicine
Jennie Kidd Trout was Canada's first female physician licensed to practice and an incredibly respected and impactful activist.
The "Stuff" of Cystic Fibrosis
Since cystic fibrosis (CF) was identified in 1938, tens of thousands have lived with the severe genetic disease. Each experience has been individual, yet common threads run through, most notably experiences of healthcare. People with CF become well-acquainted with the clinic, the hospital, the pharmacy; the need to accommodate at home piles of pill bottles, physio devices, nebulizer set-ups, perhaps home IVs, feeding tubes, oxygen compressors, insulin. The lived experience of everyday life with CF in a large part resides in these objects and their environments.
The Story of Dr. Crawford Long and the Ether Controversy
Born in 1815, Dr. Crawford Long studied medicine and surgery under renowned scholars and had the opportunity to participate in several surgeries. Surgery was a different experience in the early nineteenth century because patients were not sedated and were in excruciating pain throughout the procedure.