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Robert A. Butcher, Co. H, 82nd Infantry, Pennsylvania Robert A. Butcher was 21 when he enlisted in H Company 82nd Infantry Pennsylvania. Before the war, he was living with his mother, father, brother and sister in Philadelphia. His head was struck by a sabre on April 6th 1865 at Burkes’ Station, Virginia and he suffered two major cuts across the top of his head. He was admitted to Harewood Hospital on April 16th and, although the wounds healed rapidly, he began complaining of severe headache and intolerance to light. His anterior head wound re-opened a month later and began discharging unhealthy pus. After the wound opened, his headache gradually subsided and the wounds healed again. Physicians discharged him on June 9th and listed him as “nearly well.” Robert moved through three different homes for disabled veterans over the course of the next sixty years until he died in 1933. The first was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second was in Grant, Indiana, and the third was in Chesapeake, Virginia. He varied from being listed as an inmate to being listed as a mental patient. He is buried in Hampton National Cemetery. On view now, the Medical Historical Library explores Civil War medicine through the haunting photographs of wounded soldiers in an exhibit, "Portraits of Wounded Bodies: Photographs of Civil War Soldiers from Harewood Hospital, Washington, D.C., 1863-1866." Selections from a set of 93 photographic portraits, including Robert Butcher's, from Harewood Hospital, Washington D.C. are on display in the Rotunda of the Medical Library. In the foyer of Sterling Hall, the exhibit expands to include a larger discussion of Civil War medicine and surgery, including hospitals and nurses, using images and materials from the Medical Historical Library. On view until April 1st, 2013.  An online version of the Harewood Hospital photographs is available in the Digital Library.

Medicine at Work: A Selection of Instruments and Materials from the Medical Historical Library September 22nd, 2012-January 13th,2013 Medicine at Work, on view beginning September 22nd in the Rotunda of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library and foyer of Sterling Hall, exhibits instruments, prints, catalogs, fee bills, and books describing and depicting a variety of medical work. Surgical operations and tools, trepanation, electrotherapy, anesthesia, bandaging, and dissection and toxicology are a sample of some of the medical work that happened in the past, and continue today. This exhibit will use selections for the collections of the Medical Historical library to provide context for the tools and materials used in medicine and surgery.  Among its significant collections, the Medical Historical library has approximately 600 medical and scientific instruments and over 7000 prints, posters, and drawings.  

On view June 22through September 17 in the Medical Library Foyer.     Avoid Fatigue: Eat a Lunch that Packs a Punch! 1943 Published by the War Food Administration United States Department of Agriculture Gift of George M. Smith 1943 During World War II, responsible food habits were promoted as a contribution to the war effort by the U.S. government. The Eat to Beat the Devil series published in 1942 by Servel, Inc., makers of the gas refrigerator, fostered the idea of “eating for victory” and promoted good nutrition as an expression of patriotism. Eat to Beat the Devil 1942   Published by Servel, Inc. Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2007

New Exhibit on display in the Library foyer April 23 – June 18 2012 The Office of International Medical Student Education(OIMSE) OIMSE, established in 2006 by Deans Richard Belitsky and Robert Alpern, facilitates opportunities for medical students to experience medicine as it is practiced throughout the world and to enrich the learning environment at Yale School of Medicine by providing opportunities for students from international schools to participate in clinical electives. Yale Medical Students Medical students in their final year have the opportunity to participate in clinical clerkships abroad. Also, Yale School of Medicine and other professional schools offer courses and electives in global health. Visiting Medical Student Elective Program OIMSE supports a robust Visiting International Student Elective Program for international students coming to Yale to do clinical electives. The program receives between 450 and 500 applications a year, and accepts about 80 students. Why does one journey into the mountains of Peru? By Hale Season, YSM 2012 Three weeks ago I didn’t even know that I’d be anywhere other than New Haven this July, and yet here I am 50 miles west of Central America headed for Lima.  I had known that I had wanted to go to South America for an international experience sometime this year – after 15+ years of Spanish classes, I really wanted to immerse myself in the language – but I didn’t think when I interviewed in June that anything would happen before the Spring at the very earliest.  As luck would have it, however, there was a mission trip going to the impoverished mountains of Peru for the second week of July, and I was invited.  It was truly quite exciting - 3 weeks ago I was told that if I could wing the arrangements and clear my schedule, I would be in the middle of nowhere just that quickly. Read more… For more information, visit the Office of International Medical Student Education.

On View in the Library Corridor through January 6Selections from the Historical CollectionsL.C. Clinker and M.J. DwyerDon’t Waste Food While Others Starve! c.1918Lithograph printed by Heywood Strasser and Voight Lithograph Company, New York, for the U.S. Food AdministrationPurchased through the Lucia P. Fulton Fund 2010Harvey T. Dunn U.S.A. 1884-1952Victory is a Question of Stamina, 1917Lithograph printed by Latham Lithograph and Printing Company, Brooklyn, New York for the U. S. Food AdministrationPurchased through the Lucia P. Fulton Fund 2010