Thursday, November 5th, 2015

Our group toured the Gordon Museum of Pathology this morning, which is the largest medical museum in the UK. We listened to a lecture by Dr. Bill Edwards on the history of art and medicine. Art was able to depict medical practices and human anomalies of the past. We were able to tour the museum, observing several specimens with various conditions.

For lunch, we explored the Borough Market and chose from a large variety of fresh food/meat/cheese. There were so many options!

Julie  taught us about the history of plants and medicine, dating back to the Medieval Times and the Four Humors of medicine. Following our lecture, we visited the Old Operating Theatre, discovered in the attic in a church. The historian described in detail what a surgery looked like then. It was frightening! They did not use anesthetic, failed to wash their hands prior to surgery, and usually had over 100 medical students watching the surgery (not exactly sterile). This is why it was called a theatre! There was also a display of other tools used in nursing and medicine over the past centuries.

We had a great day in London!