Children’s Hospital Exhibition

The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne: 150 years of caring

In 1870 the Melbourne Hospital for Sick Children was founded by Drs William Smith and John Singleton. They were motivated by the high death rate of young children in Victoria—higher even than London’s at the time. Mrs Frances Perry, wife of the first Anglican Bishop of Melbourne, was elected as the first president of a ladies’ committee of management. The University of Melbourne’s teaching connection with the hospital began formally in 1879, when the hospital began offering medical students access to its wards.

The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne: 150 years of caring exhibition explores the roles of important individuals, turning points, and changing responses to community needs. The hospital’s history—from its earliest days in a modest city house, to its internationally recognised achievements on the extensive campus of today.  Importantly, the stories and expertise of the traditional owners are acknowledged, through artworks commissioned by the hospital for its 150th anniversary.

Planned originally for 2020 but, like many of the Hospital’s own 150th anniversary celebrations, postponed due to the pandemic, the MDHS Faculty commemorates its long and valuable relationship with the RCH with this historical exhibition. Featuring  highlights from items in the RCH archive and collections department, the AMA collection held in the Medical History Museum and material from the State Library.

Dentistry: Innovation and education

This exhibition celebrates the 135th Anniversary of the establishment of the Odontological Society of Victoria in 1884, which brought about the development of the first dental school in the State.

The Medical History Museum and Henry Forman Atkinson Museum thanks Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch, for sponsoring Dentistry: Innovation and education exhibition and catalogue.

Venom: Fear, Fascination and Discovery

This exhibition tells of the fascination with the power of venom and the quest for a universal antidote against this most feared of poisons. Over thousands of years Australian Aboriginal people incorporated ways of understanding and dealing with these venomous creatures in their cultural and healing practices. Thereafter, from colonial times to the present day the search for an antidote has continued. Indeed, from the first Professor of Medicine, George Britton Halford, the University of Melbourne has been part of the global debate on the nature of venom. Contributions were made through collaboration between major research and cultural institutions: Melbourne Zoo, Museum Victoria, Healesville Sanctuary, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (now bioCSL). Struan Sutherland founded the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU), in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne, upon the privatisation of CSL Ltd, in 1994.

Watch introductory video