The Museum’s four floors are filled with extraordinary artifacts, as well as paintings, illustrations and sculptures that interpret the pre-modern and modern healing practices of human civilization. From early practices to today’s revolutionary techniques, the Museum’s collections and exhibits portray the mysteries, breakthroughs, failures, and milestones that have shaped modern surgical science.
Currently on View
Floor 1
Surgicogenomics: Genes and Stem-cells in Surgery
Nineteenth Century Apothecary
Dental Office: A Checkup on Dental History
Floor 2
The Hall of Immortals – Sculptures by Louis Linck & Edouard Chaissing
The Hall of Murals – Paintings by Count Gregorio Calvi di Bergolo
The Library: Max Thorek Rare Book and Manuscript Collection
Polio and the Iron Lung
Windows on the World: The Science of Sight & The Ophthalmic Art
Floor 3
Anatomical Illustration
Diagnostic Detectives: Pathology in Modern Medical Practice
Japan Hall of Fame
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Pain & Pain Management
Rx For Success: Health Career Center
Taiwan Hall of Fame (temporarily off view)
X-Rays and Medical Imaging
Floor 4
Nursing: Care for a Changing World (temporarily off view)
Spanish Mural Gallery (temporarily off view)
Understanding Lipoproteins: Research, Treatment and Relationship to Cholesterol
Wound Healing: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Technologies (temporarily off view)
Contemporary Art Galleries
The International Museum of Surgical Science supports a commitment to contemporary art and artists through exhibitions and programs that use the frame of contemporary artistic practice to examine new perspectives in surgical science and our relationship to the body. The Museum’s Contemporary Arts Initiative includes rotating exhibitions of contemporary art, as well as an ongoing Artist in Residence program.
Past Exhibitions
Jon Chambers: The Practical Applications of Networks to the Body (March 29, 2019 – May 12, 2019)
A World Without Polio (2009-2018)
Provident Hospital: A Living Legacy (February 2016 – March 2017)
Beyond Broken Bones: The Story of Orthopedics and Prosthetics (2007-2016)
Supporting Structure: Understanding the Spine & Spinal Surgery (2007-2016)
Then and Now: 35 Years of HIV/AIDS (December 2015)
To inquire about exhibitions presented or ending before 2015, please contact Museum staff.
