History of Medicine Museum, Cuenca, Ecuador

Diane: Why does Cuenca have a History of Medicine Museum? I don't think there were any great medical discoveries made here. Nor do I believe that the medical school is world-renowned. However, the museum is colocated with the medical school faculty and that should have given me a clue.

The primary residents of the museum are pieces of medical equipment, some dating back as far as 100 years, maybe more. Taking up less space, but nevertheless displayed quite prominently are the various belongings such as desks, framed degrees, doctor bags, business correspondence, and stethoscopes of some of the medical school faculty. It might be something akin to "George Washington slept here". Or perhaps just, "I am important so make a museum about me."

The first piece of equipment looked like an extraterrestrial landing platform or maybe some kind of orbiting pod.

Some items on display definitely made me ecstatic NOT to have been alive during their use. For example, an old operating table looked very uncomfortable.






There were some dental instruments from the 1930's and 1940's, supposedly from a time before there were dentists. I'm pretty sure we had dentists in the United States during that period, but perhaps not here in Ecuador.






They even had a lot of old medicine exhibited in glass cases. Of course, now the safety experts tell us to throw away all our old medicine after a year or so.

There were old xray machines, inhalers, respirometers, electric stills (usesd to produce distilled water), and artificial legs. They had an ether machine on display. One ominous machine was labeled "Euipment for Nerve Stimulation" (but in Spanish of course). There were many mundane gadgets that looked identical to those in use today, such as blood pressure monitors or the overhead light used in operating rooms. And then again, there were some machines whose uses I simply counldn't fathom. The most disturbing exhibit contained two somewhat preserved dead people with no explanation as to why they were there.

I hadn't been there long, when I found myself thinking about the Computer Museum in Boston. When it first opened, there were two packed floors of obsolete computer equipment. There must have been a few people who just couldn't get rid of all those expensive and now relatively useless pieces of history. And now there's the Spy Museum in Washington DC. It's chock full of old spy gear, a lot of it from the Cold War era. I know I'd have trouble discarding what was once top-of-the-line spy equipment. So, why not make a museum out of it?

Both the Computer Museum and the Spy Museum used old hardware to tell the history of their respective specialties. Sadly, funds are probably lacking to do the same here at the History of Medicine Museum in Cuenca. This museum did not actually provide any timelines or historical perspectives or contexts. Instead, most items are simply positioned, labeled, and dated.

In any event, if you need some stock photos of old medical equipment, I can probably help you out.