Museums of Medicine and Health: Curating Public Health

Abstract

In the first quarter of the twentieth century, health and hygiene-themed exhibitions and museums became prevalent communication tools for public health throughout the world. However, the primary motivation behind their establishment as medical museums was the educational value they added to medical training. These museums became central to instruction at medical schools in the nineteenth century. This article presents an overview of the origins of museums of medicine, health and hygiene, their role in the Ottoman/Turkish context, and how they gained and lost their prominence. It then proposes ways in which these museums can be instrumental in our fight against infectious diseases and social injustices in the field of biomedicine. Keywords: medical museum, Hikmet Hamdi, hygiene exhibit, Sıhhi Müze, public health communication, science communication, critical medical humanities, health humanities