Medical history resources

Historical compendium

A historical compendium of the people, departments, schools, research centres and affiliated organisations that make up the faculty, with references to archival materials and a bibliography of historical published literature.

Johnstone-Need Medical History Unit Historical Collection

The University of Melbourne's medical history collection covers every stage in the development of the medical profession and associated disciplines over the last century-and-a-half. The collection is rich in older historical material acquired by scholars, university librarians and curators, as well as by medical bibliophiles and antiquarians. Visit the faculty's medical history collection.

Medical History Museum

The collection of around 5000 items includes diagnostic and surgical instruments, archival photographs and documents through which the history of western medicine can be told. Learn more about the Medical History Museum.

Medical and dental history museum catalogues

The Medical History Museum was established by a grant from the Wellcome Trust and opened on 13 April 1967. It holds more than 4000 items which include objects, photographs, archives and ephemera. The museum houses the reconstructed 1849 Savory and Moore Pharmacy. Three ornate display cases from the 1880 Melbourne Internal Exhibition hold microscopes, microtomes and surgical instruments from the early 1800s to the 1950s. Visit the faculty's online medical history museum catalogue.

The Odontological Society of Victoria, founded in 1884, laid the foundations of a dental museum and library. These collections exist today as the Dental Museum and the dental section of the Brownless Biomedical Library at the University of Melbourne. Much of this material was collected and catalogued by Professor HF Atkinson, former dean of the Faculty of Dental Science. Visit the faculty's dental history museum catalogue.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project

An online register of nursing historical resources, profiles of significant nursing individuals and organisations and events. Visit the faculty's nursing history project site.