Tayside Medical History Museum Permanent Displays
The Tayside Medical History Museum has a variety of permanent displays, both in Ninewells Hospital and around Tayside. Here you can find out more about what is on display and where you can see it.
Ninewells Hospital
Main Displays
The museum's new permanent display is now open! Find us outside the Gannochy Trust Lecture Theatre in the Medical School at Ninewells.
View highlights from the display in this 3D virtual tour:
Main Concourse
Unfortunately we have had to take down our display of recent acquisitions in the Information Centre of the main concourse. However, the display case has now been re-sited outside the level 7 entrance to Ninewells Library, where you can view student-curated displays based on our collections!
Artworks
The Tayside Medical History Museum’s collections include many interesting artworks, some of which are on display around the Medical School and Hospital. There are also various artworks from our Art & Design collections displayed around the Medical School on levels 7 and 8. Click the links below for further information.
The Maggie's Centre Collection
DRI Memorial Wall
With the generous support of NHS Tayside, the Tayside Medical History Museum has created a new permanent display in the main concourse at Ninewells Hospital. Marking ten years since the closure of Dundee Royal Infirmary, the DRI Memorial Wall was unveiled in November 2008. It features many of the commemorative plaques that were an integral part of the hospital, along with artefacts, photographs and other memorabilia. The wall can be seen near the large tapestry at the entrance to South Block.
Olympic Torch
In front of the DRI Memorial Wall we have created a new display celebrating Olympic torchbearer and double-leg amputee Ronnie McIntosh. Click here to discover his extraordinary story.
Radiology
Dundee has a notable history of X-ray experimentation. This display in the Radiology Department on level 6 features a fascinating selection of X-ray equipment through the ages, as well as highlighting the contributions of local pioneers, George Pirie, Weymouth Reid and JP Kuenen.
Elsewhere in Dundee
Dundee Science Centre
The museum has worked with staff at the Science Centre to create a new permanent display on the history of surgery, part of the Medical Marvels exhibition on the first floor.
To find out more about opening times and prices, visit the Dundee Science centre website.
Discovery Point
The original Sick Bay on the RRS Discovery has recently been opened up to the public and includes various medical artefacts on loan from the Tayside Medical History Museum. The new display also includes a replica figure of Reginald Koettlitz, the ship's surgeon. The Discovery Expedition saw the first ever surgical operation in Antarctica when Lieutenant Royds underwent the removal of a cyst on his face.
To find out more about opening times and prices visit the Discovery Point website.
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum
The Making of Modern Dundee gallery on the ground floor of The McManus includes a section on the city’s medical history featuring objects from our collections, including keyhole surgery instruments and early X-ray equipment.
To find out more about opening times, visit The McManus website.
Hospitals around Tayside
Aberfeldy
As part of our remit to reflect medical history throughout Tayside, in September 2009 we opened our first satellite display at Aberfeldy Community Hospital. Officially opened to mark the centenary of the hospital, the display features artefacts used in the hospital over the past 100 years along with photos of well-known staff such as Dr Swanson, Dr Yellowlees and Matron Cameron. The display can be seen in the hospital foyer area during normal opening hours.
Blairgowrie
In May 2010 we opened our second satellite display at Blairgowrie Community Hospital. Exploring the history of medical care in Blairgowrie and Rattray, much of the work on the display was done by museum volunteer Dr Jim McKellican, a native of Blairgowrie. Jim has also written a booklet on the history of Blairgowrie and Strathmore Hospitals which is available from Blairgowrie Community Hospital or the Tayside Medical History Museum.
Pitlochry
Our third satellite display was opened at Pitlochry Community Hospital in 2011. There are two cases on show in the foyer and waiting area. One tells the history of the town’s first hospital, the Irvine Memorial Hospital (left), opened in 1902. It was erected in connection with the Pitlochry Nursing Association as a memorial to the late Dr William Stewart Irvine, a well-loved and respected local medical practitioner, who had served the Parish of Moulin for almost 60 years. The local architect John Leonard built the hospital in a ‘domestic style’ on land gifted by Mr J Grant Ferguson of Baledmund.
The total cost for erection and fitting of the building was £1376 5s 6d. Provision was made for 2-bedded male and female wards with separate bathrooms, nurses’ rooms and kitchen. Extensions were added over the years to include X-ray facilities, an operating theatre and a children’s ward, and there were 11 beds by the time the National Health Service took over the hospital in 1948. Further developments included the Atholl wing for care of the elderly, day hospital facilities and therapeutic gardens. The old Hospital celebrated its centenary in 2002, but in recognition that the needs of the 21st century require a state-of-the-art, integrated health facility, the newly built Pitlochry Community Hospital took over care in 2008.
The second case provides an insight into the experiences of Major and Mrs AJ Munro, from Blair Atholl, as a patient and a nurse during World War Two. The items in this cabinet have been kindly loaned to the hospital in memory of Molly Munro, who died in 2009.