Opening of 'Out of the Doctor's Bag' exhibition
Last Thursday the Heritage Centre opened our new exhibition Out of the Doctor's Bag.
 |
| Prof Frank Murray (RCPI President), Harriet Wheelock, Dr Monica McWeeney, Dr Gerry Cummins (ICGP President), Dr Henry Jack |
The exhibition, which will run until the end of the year, explores the development of the doctor’s bag
and its contents over the past 200 years. For the first time it is a collaborative exhibition, in partnership with the Retired GPs Group of the Irish College of General Practitioners.
The display houses a range of historical medical
instruments from RCPI Heritage Centre collections, as well as key items loaned by members of ICGP's retired GPs group. Amongst the fascinating artefacts
on show is the stethoscope of Dr William Stokes, an early O ’Dwyer’s Laryngeal
Intubation kit and a guide to setting up in general practice, written by an
RCPI Member in 1890.
The exhibition
also includes a lancet that was used by Irish surgeon, Barry O’Meara
to bleed his most famous patient, Napoleon. While some of the instruments on display like
Corrigan’s Button, have fallen out of use, others such as forceps, have
remained largely unchanged over two centuries.
It has been fascinating carrying out the research for this exhibition, and discovering how much change and innovation there has been in medical instruments and technology over the past two hundred years. It was also a pleasure to work with Dr Monica McWeeney and members of the Retired GPs, who were incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge and memories, and in donating items for the exhibition.
The exhibition is housed at the home of the Royal
College of Physicians of Ireland, No. 6 Kildare Street and is normally open
from 10am-4pm, Monday-Friday. To check opening times please email heritagecentre@rcpi.ie