Museum of Health Care Summer Experience. Part 2

*the following guest blog was written by Maddi McKay, 2012 Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Health Care. Our thanks to the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations program (Canadian Museums Association) for their support in the creation of Maddi’s position!

When I was seven years old, my grandmother brought me to visit the Museum of Health Care. I was working on a school project that required me to visit all the Kingston Area museums, and in the conclusion of this project I clearly stated that the museum I’m now fortunate enough to work for was my favourite.

Maddi in her office. July 2012

Working at the Museum of Health Care became, and continues to be, my dream job. I can scarcely believe that someone actually pays me to read and write about topics I find interesting, as well as gain absolutely invaluable experience in artefact handling and exhibit development. From researching the basics of respiration and vaccination for an upcoming exhibit, to creating a “Twitter”-themed pamphlet on the medical history of the First World War, the amount of knowledge I have gained here is absolutely staggering. Beyond the job itself, however, the people who work tirelessly to maintain this establishment have proven to be the best coworkers I could have hoped for. In particular, the curator (and my supervisor) Pamela Peacock has been far and away the best boss, teacher, and co-worker I have ever reported to, and I don’t hesitate to say that I learned more about researching, writing, museum work, history, and life from her than any university course could possibly have taught me.

Funding Success for Museum Collection

Iron lung, built at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, 1937,

We are excited to announce that Ontario’s Museums and Technology Fund has granted $15,000 to the Museum of Health Care for the development of a new feature on our website entitled “From the Collection”. To be developed over the next year, this page will include a series of short illustrated profiles for various objects, images, and documents drawn from the MHC collections. The subjects of these profiles will include artefacts, drawings, books, documents, works of art, and photographs representing various collections, themes, historical events, persons, medical disciplines, curiosities, and “treasures” currently held in MHC artefact and archival holdings.