health.mil

Sandra Lea Abrams  |  Health.mil

September 06, 2012

Recent advances in military medicine include mind-controlled prosthetics and high-tech trauma care, but the military’s contributions to improving the practice of medicine are nothing new.  Now, a department of defense museum, the National Museum of Health and Medicine, is showcasing those developments in a new state-of-the-art building and using its collection of some 25 million artifacts to encourage children’s interest in medicine and in learning about the fundamentals of good health.

“The museum’s collection serves as a historic and contemporary repository that will educate future generations about the advances in military medicine while also offering future researchers and historians opportunities to study the materials in the collection in ways that may have clinical  or development applications,” Tim Clarke, deputy director of communication for the museum said.

The NMHM is in a strong position to be an educational outreach resource.   When it opened 150 years ago on the grounds of the old Walter Reed hospital, it was strictly an Army museum, but now covers the broad scope of military medicine.  Earlier this year, the museum relocated to a new facility in Silver Spring, Md., a suburb north of Washington, D.C.  Personal objects used by Army Maj. (Dr.) Walter Reed  and a portion of the floor from an Air Force tent hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq are on display.  There are also interactive showcase stations that encompass the past, present and future of medicine, from the bullet that assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, to doctor kits used by White House physicians through the years.  

A viewing window allows visitors to watch curators restore and prepare artifacts and specimens. The museum also started an “organ of the month” program to help impart valuable health information to children using pieces from the collection.  The out-of- the-classroom approach is attracting many families and groups of student visitors.  

“The purpose is to introduce [the students]  to the organs in their body and to educate them about how  to better  take care of their organs and how to have  a healthy functioning body,” Andrea Schierkolk, public programs manager at the National Museum of Health and Medicine said.

In August, visitors learned about the function of the bean-shaped kidney which is no bigger than a computer mouse.  Collection specialists for the museum explained the organ’s filtration process, how one kidney can do the work of two and diseases that may affect the organ.   The museum’s educational program continues with a focus this month on reproductive health, followed by an October special program on bones and a November stomach oriented program.

“Our collection continues  to grow  and  represent  modern advances in areas of medicine-  especially military  medicine - and hopefully people will  come and look forward  to more  activities,  programs and exhibits  in the near future,” Clarke said.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine is free and open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but is closed on Dec. 25.

Learn more about the National Museum of Health and Medicine's organ of the month program call 301-319-3325 or email medicalmuseum@amedd.army.mil

Learn more about Kids health click here.

View a photo slide show from NMHM featuring kidney month.

View a photo slide show of other artifacts at the museum.

News Stories  |  military history   trauma care   Balad Air Base   children's program   National Museum of Health and Medicine   museum   military health   medical advances   NMHM   Walter Reed