Chester County Medicine Summer 2018 - 23

www.CHESTERCMS.org

L

ooking for something different
to do this summer? Something
a bit out of the ordinary maybe
something where you could combine a bit
of business, or professional education, with
pleasure? Something other than sitting in
the hot bleacher seats while the Phillies
grind out another one-run win, or perhaps
sitting at home watching two teams
you've never thought about before exhaust
themselves ( and you, too?) running back
and forth across the "pitch" for the better
part of two hours only to eke out a 1-0
victory in front of 80,000 screaming soccer
fans at a World Cup match halfway around
the world?
Well, then, perhaps we have a
suggestion you hadn't really considered
before. One which is out of your usual way
of thinking about summer vacation trips;
one which could combine your professional
interest and curiosity with learning more
about some of the more fascinating
aspects of our medical profession's history,
including many of its oddities; and one
perhaps to pique your interest with some
of its more unique, weird, or even macabre
events and curiosities.
This author realizes that there are
plenty of things in our big cities to entice
the tourist and fill an otherwise routine,
hot, summer day. Locally, there are, of
course, sponsored events such as Welcome
America and rock concerts, the big league
ballparks, the minor league ballparks, the
Philadelphia Zoo, and the Jersey Shore
beaches. Years ago, when this author was
younger and practiced in New York, a
similar menu of summer entertainments
was readily available: the Statue of Liberty,
Wall Street, Ground Zero at the WTC
site, numerous museums, the Empire State
Building, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's
and St. John the Divine cathedrals, to
name but a few.
Still, after several years of repetitive
"been there; done that" vacation trips one
couldn't help falling into the old "not there
again" mentality. Thus it became a lot more
complicated to find things to do which
might make one feel that you'd like to try
something different - if only this once.

So, here we offer a suggestion which a
jaded professional traveler might wish to
consider - one which could be individually
tailored and adjusted to his or her personal
interests. And that is to set your sights
on visiting one or more of the many
informative and often intriguing of the
medical museums which exist, not only
locally, but in various parts of this country.

David J. Sencer CDC Museuam
https://www.cdc.gov/museum/

In no particular order of priority,
then (except perhaps reflecting the
author's personal background, history and
interests), we start off by calling the reader's
attention to the existence of the David J.
Sencer CDC Museum in Atlanta, GA.
The Sencer Museum was established in
1996 in conjunction with the CDC's 50th
anniversary. This is a free museum, open
to the public, 9 to 5, Monday through
Friday (up to 7 PM on Thursdays). It is
"designed to educate visitors about the
value of prevention-based public health,
while presenting the CDC's rich heritage
and vast accomplishments." It boasts a
number of interesting features including
several permanent exhibitions, the CDC's
renowned "CDC Disease Detective
Camp" (for Junior and Senior High School
students), teacher workshops (to support
science education and incorporate public
health concepts into classroom curricula),
and the CDC's wonderful History
Collection (reflecting the art, history, and
science of the CDC). All of this is directly
aimed at supporting CDC's mission to
prevent disease, injuries and disabilities,
and to encourage healthy lifestyles
through all stages of life, by informing and
educating people as to the relevance and
impact of public health on their daily lives.
For further information and details, contact
them at https://www.cdc.gov/museum/
or phone (404) 639-0830.

Closer to home, we have some
recommendations for trips to interesting
sites in both Pennsylvania and Maryland
which may also be worth considering,
especially those who are native to the area
or who attended medical school here.
First and foremost is the world-renowned
Mütter Museum, located in Center City
at 19 South 22nd Street. This is a medical
museum which originated as a collection
of specimens and medical tools used
for education in medicine. Established
originally in 1863, it moved to its present
location in 1909, and is hosted by the
College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
It contains a collection of "medical
oddities, anatomical and pathological
specimens, wax models and antique
medical equipment." The original purpose
of the collection, donated by Dr. Thomas
Dent Mütter in 1858, was for biomedical
research and education. It now contains
over 20,000 specimens (not all on display),
which doesn't include the large library
collection held in the Historical Medical
Library, also housed in the College of
Physicians facility.

Mütter Museum
http://muttermuseum.org/

The museum houses over 3,000
osteological specimens including several
full-sized skeletons, the noted Hyrtl Skull
Collection of 139 skulls from the 19th
and 20th centuries (created to show the
diversity of cranial anatomy in Europeans),
numerous wax models documenting
examples of human pathology, and
hundreds of wet specimens showing
teratology, cysts, tumors, etc.

SUMMER 2018 | CHESTER COUNT Y Medicine 23
http://chestercms.org/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/museum/ http://www.muttermuseum.org/ https://www.cdc.gov/museum/
Chester County Medicine Summer 2018

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