The Acquisition, Use and Fate of Anatomical Teaching Models: The McGill University Medical Museum Experience 1852 to 2025

Models depicting normal human anatomy have been a feature of Western medical teaching since the Renaissance. Some were collected by McGill University’s medical museum after its founding in 1821. In 1907, a fire in the medical building destroyed virtually the entire collection. Many models were purchased to replenish it during the following sixteen years. The majority of these, as well as those acquired after 1923, were consolidated in the Maude Abbott Medical Museum (MAMM) in 2012. We undertook a review of all models acquired by McGill’s Medical Museum/MAMM since the start of medical faculty calendar records in 1852/1853. A total of 433 were identified, of which 323 are still present. We discuss the uses of this collection and speculate about how 110 models have been “lost.” The review provides an understanding of the use of models in anatomy teaching in one North American university during the past 175 years.