The University’s Museum of Medicine and Health contains one of the most extensive collections of medical instruments and equipment in England. ‌Spanning more than 300 years, the collection represents a significant educational and cultural asset for The University of Manchester.

Instruments and equipment in the Museum have been the focus of several new student interactions this semester. Heritage Officer Stephanie Seville helps provide access to over 200 years of medicine and health history in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. The collection has potential across disciplines and stages of study.

Art Gallery and Museum Studies MA

The museum’s historical relationship with the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures continues. Students took part in an object-handling exercise with 25 objects from the museum’s collection. The 50 Postgraduate students and their tutors will now loan, care and curate the historical material for over three months, incorporating the objects into assessment criteria.

Optometry

Andrew Gridley, Senior Lecturer in Optometry joined with the museum to enhance the experience of first year students. Drawing upon the ongoing relationship with Dr Tricia Close-Koenig of the University of Strasbourg, the museum adapted her ‘35 Ways to Look at a Historical Object’ session plan.

Workshops invited over 70 students to handle and examine artefacts linked to eye anatomy and vision health. In small groups they questioned how the objects felt, were made and used. The students were also challenged with a creative writing task; with a little help from AI, they created several short stories based on the instruments. Students decided on characters, genre and plotline and presented to their peers.

Academic Success Programme

In addition, our digital exhibition Instruments of Change was accessed by students attending the Academic Success Programme workshops (run by the University Centre for Academic English) last month. Tutors used the online resource to coach Medical Sciences students in honing their language and group presentation skills, demonstrating the versatility of the Museum of Medicine and Health and its resources.

Academic Success Programme Co-ordinator, Kamil Stobiecki commented on the cooperation: “This is a prime example of how we can work together and mutually benefit. We are aiming to create teaching materials that not only allow students to develop their academic skills, but also encourage them to explore different parts of our university.”

Working closely with academic lead Dr Harriet Palfreyman, Stephanie has promoted the collection with posters and workshops at events such as the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning and the Medical Education Conferences. The museum looks to evaluate the student experience with the collection further and develop a workshop model.

• Find out more about the Museum of Medicine and Health.