Night of Museums on May 18

We invite to the Night of Museums on May 18’

from 18.00 to 01.00 to the MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE (Library and Information Center, ground floor and first floor)

street Żwirki i Wigury 63.

 

The Museum of the History of Medicine of the Medical University of Warsaw is once again participating in one of the most important museum and cultural events of 2024.

This time, the main issue we want to present is the human brain, which arouses great interest and is the subject of scientific research.

During the event titled “Secrets of the Brain”, we will reveal a glimpse of the vast knowledge about the brain. There will be an opportunity to see, among other things, an exhibition dedicated to Jerzy Choróbski, an important figure in Polish science and the founder of Polish neurosurgery.

The program will also include lectures by MUW experts.

Specialists from the Department of Psychology of the Medical University of Warsaw will conduct special educational workshops that will help our participants discover their predispositions and abilities.

The exhibition will be complemented by health prevention workshops conducted by students who will present popular science issues in their field, including: with pain relief.

Moreover, as part of the popularization of health-related issues, workshops for IFMSA students will be organized

We will also make available the modern space of the “Anatomical Theater” for everyone who wants to “Learn the secrets of the brain”.

ATTENTION: There will be a competition for those interested during the Night of Museums.

Regulations and questions will be available in the museum room on May 18 from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

You can win 10 museum T-shirts and 10 museum mugs.

 

PROGRAM

  • Temporary exhibitions:

“Professor Jerzy Choróbski – creator of the first Neurosurgery Clinic in Poland”

“Secrets of the Brain”

“The Pharmacist’s Library”

“History of the Faculty of Pharmacy”

“History of the Faculty of Dentistry”

“Anatomical Theater”

“Vita Brevis Ars Longa” – 1st floor

 

  • Lectures:

– 19.00 – “Trepanation – a short history of neurosurgery” – Professor Bogdan Ciszek

-20.00 – “How to improve brain function and memory” – MD, PhD Stanisław Szlufik

– 21. 00 – “…from a bottle of ether to complicated equipment. That is, with anesthesiology for almost two centuries” – MD, PhD Maria Turos

-22.00 – “Recipe for a happy brain” – MA, PhD Magdalena Łazarewicz

 

  • Educational workshops:

“Mental health prevention” Specialists of the Psychology Study Center of the Medical University of Warsaw – games, quizzes and tests that will help you discover what natural abilities and predispositions your mind has.

“Get to know the human brain” – anatomy lessons conducted by students of the Medical University of Warsaw

  • Stands:

“Practical pharmacy” – the effects of painkillers – students from the Polish Society of Pharmacy Students PTSF

“Dental prevention” – dentist without pain – free dental check-up carried out by students of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and PTSS.

“Health under control” – IFMSA students – blood sugar level testing, blood pressure measurement, body composition and weight measurement, spirometry, laparoscopic surgery trainer, DKMS bone marrow donor registration.

The literary passions of Dr. Janusz Korczak

We invite you to the museum lecture by Dr. Marta Moldovan-Cywińska “Towards goodness – the literary passions of Dr. Janusz Korczak”, which will take place on February 22 at 5 p.m. in room no. 30 in the Library and Information Center of the Medical University of Warsaw (ul. Żwirki i Wigury 63) . The lecture will also be available online on Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84936957144?pwd=egGaTeZ95ezMaPRlpdXzEoQPxqdI8O.1

Meeting ID: 849 3695 7144

Access code: 594619

Marta Moldovan-Cywińska – Ph.D. in humanities, literary scholar, romanist, polonist, poet, writer, translator of French literature and Italian prose, author of thirty-odd books – some of them in French. Passionate about foreign language methodology and teaching, she has been creating unconventional methods and putting them into practice for many years. Author of exhibitions – poetry props (including “My Brittany”, “Finistère, the end of the world”). Honored with her own oak tree in the Forest of a Thousand Poets in France. Lecturer of French and Polish as a foreign language at the Medical University of Warsaw.

Dr. Marta Moldovan-Cywińska will talk about Dr. Janusz Korczak primarily as a great doctor, educator, educator, educational philosopher, writer and pioneer of activities for the rights of the human child. It will recall fragments of his professional and creative life and recall pages of his diary from his literary and educational activities. The bond of her speech about such an eminent figure is goodness as a value. “The spirit longs in the tight cage of the body. People feel and consider death in terms of the end, but it is only a continuation of life, another life,” he wrote. “I am not here to be loved and admired, but so that I can act and love. It is not the duty of those around me to help me, but I have the duty to take care of the world, of people.”

Echoes of Ancient Times

January 25, 2024 at 5 p.m in the museum room on the ground floor of the Library and Information Center at ul. Żwirki i Wigury 63 lecture by prof. Dr. hab. Adam Łukaszewicz “Echoes of Ancient Times. Hippocrates, his oath and ancient medicine. The lecture concerned selected aspects of the legacy of the most famous representative of ancient medical art. Comment on one from Hippocrates’ aphorisms and his famous oath will be accompanied by comments on medicine and doctors in ancient times.

Prof. Ph.D. Adam Łukaszewicz works at the Department of Epigraphy and Papyrology at the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Warsaw. He is an archaeologist and historian, a researcher of ancient Egypt and the Hellenistic-Roman world. He is also a member of the Warsaw community of classical philologists. Associated with the Center of Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw, he has been participating in Polish research in Alexandria for many years. He led Polish archaeological expeditions in Egypt, compiles and comments on ancient texts, including inscriptions, papyri and ostraca. He gained extensive experience in cooperation at the international forum with various research centers around the world. It is, among others, member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, honorary member of the Association of Historians of Ancient History, member of the Committees and Commissions of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences, to scientific societies and creative associations. He is the author of over 250 scientific publications in various languages, including several books.

 

After the lecture, there was a lute concert of the “Luteduo” band composed of Anna Kowalska and Anton Birula.

Nicholas Copernicus 1473-1543

Nicholas Copernicus 1473-1543

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We invite you to see our exhibition in the reading room of the Main Library of WUM, where we present the figure of Nicolaus Copernicus as a doctor.

Nicolaus Copernicus lived in an era at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a period of great changes and discoveries, a revival of the humanistic ideals of antiquity and a belief in the power of human reason. At the same time, there were still very close links between astronomy, astrology and medicine. It was believed that celestial bodies, and in particular the location and motion of stars and planets, had a direct impact on human health.

Nicolaus Copernicus went down in history mainly as an astronomer and creator of the heliocentric system, but being a versatile man of the Renaissance he also dealt with mathematics, physics, economics and philosophy. He was a doctor of law and a statesman. His area of interest was geography, especially cartography, he built dams and aqueducts. He was finally a doctor who practiced medicine for over 40 years.

After studying in Cracow (1491-1495) and after completing his law studies in Bologna (1495-1500), in 1501 Nicolaus began his medical studies at the University of Padua, famous for its high level of teaching, anatomical theatre and excellent professors, lecturers of both theoretical and practical medicine. As a model of the Renaissance, many of these professors-doctors were humanists, philosophers, astronomers and astrology.

The studies were four-degree. The first and second degrees were devoted to the study and interpretation of the works of Avicenna, Galen and Hippocrates, the third to practical medicine, and the fourth to surgery. The duration of the studies lasted at least three years, and in addition it was necessary to complete a year of practice under the supervision of an outstanding doctor. After two years a bachelor’s degree was obtained, after three years a bachelor’s degree, which authorized the practice of medicine.

Copernicus completed three years of studies supplemented by practical experience, which enabled him to obtain a bachelor’s degree and authorized him to practice medicine.

In 1503 Nicolaus Copernicus returned to Warmia and became the doctor of other Warmia bishops. He also treated outside the borders of the Diocese of Warmia, visiting the sick in Gdansk and Königsberg. In his medical activity, Copernicus established scientific contacts with prominent doctors of the Renaissance, establishing with them the diagnosis of more difficult cases of disease. Familiar with hygiene and epidemiology in Padua, he helped during the outbreak of infectious disease on the coast and in Warmia.

He deepened his medical knowledge by reading many works in the field of medicine. His collection included works by dozens of authors, both ancient medical authorities and contemporary textbooks on internal diseases, surgery and anatomy, as well as practical medicine. In some of the found medical works, which were the property of Copernicus, his handwritten notes related to medical practice and prescriptions are preserved in the margins. In the margin of one of them, he wrote, “Remember that, doctor! It is true Avicenna’s saying that the ignorant leads to murder, and therefore his saying should be remembered by every prudent physician.”

The doctor’s duties included not only writing the right prescription, but also preparing the medicine himself and delivering it to the patient. Copernicus’ prescriptions were no different from other prescriptions of doctors in Europe at that time. Nicholas used ingredients derived from folk medicine and recommended by Dioscurides, Avicenna and other masters of medical therapy. However, he avoided the then popular remedies not associated with medicine today, such as urine, frogs, snake bats, animal claws or poisonous substances. Nicholas tried to keep rationality and prudence, believing that short recipes are best.

Copernicus as a physician did not make any breakthrough in medicine, although he was one of the most prominent physicians – practitioners of the Renaissance era. For us, he is above all a brilliant astronomer, whose manuscript of On the Rotations of the Celestial Spheres was inscribed on the UNESCO World Memory List in 1999. For his contemporaries, Copernicus was above all a doctor, as evidenced by his portraits from the era with the lily of the valley in his hand – a medieval symbol of medical art.

Long Night of Museums 2023 at the WUM Museum of the History of Medicine

“Discover the Enigmas of the Dentist’s and Pharmacist’s Workshop”

On the evening of 13th May 2023, the WUM Museum of the History of Medicine hosted the Long Night of Museums, which commenced at 7 p.m. and concluded at 1 a.m.

Numerous visitors got a chance to explore temporary and permanent exhibitions:

 

  1. “Vita Brevis Ars Longa”
  2. “200 Years of Medical Education in Warsaw”
  3. The History of the Faculty of Pharmacy
  4. The History of the Faculty of Dentistry
  5. The History of Transplantation Medicine in Poland
  6. The mesmerizing “Anatomical Theatre” – a multimedia show featuring cutting-edge 3D technology, expertly curated with the invaluable contribution of WUM students.

Among most popular activities were the following workshops.

The “Dental Prevention” workshop, organized in collaboration with the Polish Dental Students’ Society (PTSS), featured the following informative activities:

(a) An educational stand hosted by the Polish Dental Students’ Society, which provided guidance on proper tooth brushing techniques.
(b) A free dental check-up administered by students from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
(c) An interactive stand titled “Drilling in Teeth – Yesterday and Today,” which offered insights into the evolution of dental techniques.

Additionally, the “Practical Pharmacy” workshop, facilitated by the Polish Society of Pharmacy Students (PTSF), offered visitors the opportunity to:

  • Create their own ointments or creams.
  • Observe various specimens through microscopes, including parasites and botanical samples.
  • Participate in a board game centred around pharmaceutical care.

The “Health under Control” stands, hosted by IFMSA students, provided a range of activities, such as:

  • Registration as potential donors for bone marrow and blood stem cells in the DKMS database.
  • Sugar level testing and blood pressure measurement.
  • Assessment of body composition and weight.
  • Spirometry sessions
  • Hands-on training with laparoscopic surgery equipment.

Furthermore, the Poltransplant expert stand titled “Transplantations” offered insights in the field of organ transplantation.

Throughout the Long Night of Museums, visitors were could take part in lectures by esteemed professionals, including:

  • “Wisdom Tooth” by Dr. Marcin Aluchna.
  • “The Beginnings of Pharmacy Education in Warsaw, 1809-1879” by Dr. Maria Turos.
  • “Facts and Myths about Marrow Donation” by Poltransplant representative, Klaudia Nestorowicz-Kałużna.
  • “About Organ Transplantation” by Teresa Danek.

Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to win museum t-shirts and mugs.

Vita Brevis Ars Longa

 

Dear all, ladies and gentlemen,

The Museum of the History of Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw extends a warm invitation to the opening of the exhibition titled: “VITA BREVIS ARS LONGA…” The event will take place on 12th December (Monday) at 10 a.m. in the Library and Information Centre, specifically in the Temporary Exhibitions Gallery on the first floor.

This exhibition focuses on the pinnacle of ancient Greek medicine. At its heart lies Hippocrates and his enduring legacy, alongside the ancient gods of Greek medicine. The exhibition’s title, “VITA BREVIS ARS LONGA…,” is the Latin rendition of Hippocrates’ maxim, which translates to “Life is short, art is long…” This saying emphasises that a single lifetime is insufficient to master the art of medicine, requiring the collective efforts of many generations.

We look forward to your presence at the opening of this exhibition, where you can delve into the rich world of ancient Greek medicine.

 

200 Years of Medical Education in Warsaw

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

We kindly invite you to attend our latest exhibition titled “200 Years of Medical Education in Warsaw,” a collaborative effort between the Office of Communication and Promotion. This exhibition will be held at the Teaching Centre, located on the first floor at 2a Ks. Trojdena Street, starting from 5th October 2022.

This exhibition provides a profound exploration of the historical evolution of medical education in Warsaw since its inception in 1809 with the establishment of the Academic Department of Medicine. Later the establishing of Medical Department within the Royal University of Warsaw, the Medical and Surgical Academy, the Medical Department under the Main School, the Russian-language Imperial University of Warsaw, and the subsequent revival of the Polish-language University of Warsaw. Moreover, the exhibition sheds light on the arduous narrative of clandestine medical education during the period of World War II, as well as the post-war reestablishment of the Medical Department. Additionally, it delves into the transformative journey of the Medical Department at the University of Warsaw, attaining the status of an independent Medical Academy, and culminates with its renaming as the Warsaw Medical University.

To bring these historical accounts to life, the exhibition showcases a curated selection of visual materials from the archives of the Museum of the History of Medicine at the Warsaw Medical University. Furthermore, the exhibition benefits from contributions from the Archives of Ancient Acts, the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Digital Archives, and contemporary photographs to depict the modern facets of medicine by the Office of Communication and Promotion at WUM. Furthermore, the exhibition features original medals, documents, and photographs which are a heritage of our Alma Mater.

Picture of Days

The Museum of the History of Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw cordially invites you to an exhibition of paintings by Wanda Piskorska titled “Picture of Days.

Wanda Piskorska, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, skilfully explores the challenging theme of the traumatic experience of a pandemic in her presented artworks. The series “Picture of Days” was created as part of the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The exhibition is curated by Monika Klimowska.

You can visit the exhibition from 19th October 2022 to 9th January 2023 at the Museum, located at 63 Żwirki i Wigury Street, 02-091 Warsaw. The exhibition is open from 9:00 to 16:00, and admission is free.

Anatomical Warm-up

 

The inaugural edition of the “Anatomical Warm-up” for first-year students at WUM took place at the Museum on the 14th of June 2022, from 14:00 to 22:30. Organized by students from the Ars Medica organization in collaboration with Museum staff, this event offered a comprehensive revision session before the Anatomy exams. Six stands were set up, featuring models from various sections, including head and neck, osteology and limbs, abdominal cavity, and thoracic cavity. A highlight of the event was the course on radiological “pins,” (a colloquial name for anatomical examinations where object in question are marked with pins). Anatomical models were generously provided by the Museum, the WUM Library, and the WUM Department of Normal and Clinical Anatomy. The substantive supervision of the “Anatomical Warm-up” was led by Dr. Mikołaj Sługocki.

Exhibition dedicated to Prof. Tadeusz Koszarowski

 

We extend a warm invitation to join us in viewing the new exhibition at the WUM Library and Information Centre, located in the reading room on the second floor. The exhibition, running from 20th May 2022 to 20th March 2023, pays tribute to the life and achievements of Prof. Tadeusz Koszarowski (1915-2002), a renowned surgeon, oncologist, scientist, healthcare organizer, social activist, humanist, and athlete.

Within the displays, you will find carefully selected memorabilia from the Professor’s legacy, generously donated to the Museum by Anna and Piotr Zborowski. Tadeusz Koszarowski served as the director of the Institute of Oncology in Warsaw for an extended period and was the driving force behind the creation of the Oncology Centre in Ursynów.

The professor’s contributions were far-reaching, as he developed innovative cancer prevention programs and pioneered diagnosis and treatment procedures through a nationwide network of oncology facilities. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in the establishment of Polish oncological surgery and initiated the National Cancer Control Programme.

This exhibition serves as a testament to Prof. Tadeusz Koszarowski’s lasting impact on the field of oncology and healthcare in Poland. We encourage you to join us in celebrating his life and extraordinary accomplishments.