Museum of Health Care Blog

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Based in Kingston, ON, our mission at the Museum of Health Care is to connect learners of all ages with Canadian health care’s complex and intriguing history.

Explore our blog to learn about select pieces from our 40,000 artifact collection, discover lesser known history about the medical profession, or take a look at our at-home educational activities.

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Indigenous History Month: Dr. Cornelia Wieman

Dr. Wieman is an Anishinaabe woman from Manitoba, Little Grand Rapids First Nation. She grew up very poor with her adoptive non-Indigenous family as a victim of the Sixties Scoop. She had very little exposure to medicine prior to her entrance into McMaster University.  After graduating from McMaster in 1993 with a medical degree and training in psychiatry, she became laser focused on improving the health and mental health of Indigenous Peoples and fighting Indigenous racism. … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Cornelia Wieman

Indigenous History Month: Dr. Nadine Caron

Today we are celebrating Dr. Nadine Caron who is making medical history! Her story is one of many firsts; she became the first Indigenous woman to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) medical school and then, in 2005, became the first female Indigenous general surgeon in Canada. Most recently, Dr. Caron was named the UBC’s founding First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness.⁠ … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Nadine Caron

Indigenous History Month: Dr. Peter Edmund Jones (Kahkewaquonaby)

In 1866, Dr. Peter Edmund Jones became North America’s first licensed Indigenous physician after attending medical school at the University of Toronto and Queen’s College (now Queen’s University). He became a strong voice for the rights and health of Indigenous peoples, lobbying the federal government on behalf of Indigenous peoples, and promoting tuberculosis vaccination programs and advocating for public health initiatives.⁠ … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Peter Edmund Jones (Kahkewaquonaby)

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So You’ve Got a Curator. Now What?

The Museum of Health Care at Kingston has hired a curator! Huzzah!
But some of you may be wondering: what does that actually mean? What on earth is a curator and what do they do? It’s both simple and surprisingly hard to answer. You’re probably at least vaguely aware that a curator is someone who works in a museum. You might have seen a curator in a movie, usually in the form of a pretentious, stodgy academic peevishly insisting that the hero stop touching the exhibits and with pretty even odds on getting murdered by a supernatural force trapped in some ancient artifact (as far as movie professions go, curators tend to have lifespans approximately equal to cops the day before retirement). You may have heard of someone curating a social media feed or a Pinterest board or read a thinkpiece on why calling everyone who collects content a curator will be the downfall of society. All of which can make it hard to figure out what exactly a museum curator does.
… More So You’ve Got a Curator. Now What?

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The Story of Dr. Harold Tovell and His Love of Art and Medicine

Dr. Harold M. Tovell was born in 1887, and is considered one of Toronto’s pioneering radiologists. He was an arts and medical student at the University of Toronto, which was where he met his wife Ruth Lillian Massey through her cousin Vincent Massey, the first Canadian to hold the position of Governor General of Canada. Tovell and Massey were married in 1910 and lived first in New York and then in Munich, where Tovell trained under Dr. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the discoverer of x-rays.⁠ … More The Story of Dr. Harold Tovell and His Love of Art and Medicine

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Shaelyn Ryan
Collections Technician/Assistant
Rowena McGowan
Curator
Hannah Samuels
Public Programs Assistant
Victor Drazilov
Public Programs Assistant