21 items

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  Anatomy Lab, c. 1945
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  Anesthesia Mask, c. 1900

  This wire frame anesthesia mask was used to cover a patient’s mouth and nose during surgery. Called “open anesthesia,” the wire frame was covered with a fabric or cotton gauze and either ether or chloroform was dripped onto the covering. The patient inhaled this mixture of evaporated anesthetic and air to remain unconscious during procedures.
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  C-11 X-Ray Viewer, c. 1900

  Wilhem Conrad Roentgen, professor of physics in Wurzberg, Bavaria, accidentally discovered the X-ray in 1895. During an attempt to pass cathode rays through glass, an incandescent green light escaped and projected onto a nearby fluorescent screen. Later he took an X-ray photograph of his wife’s hand that revealed the rays could view through the body and photograph bones. Since he did not know what rays these were, he named them “X” rays short for “unknown”.
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  Dean Charles William McCorkle Poynter, MD, at his desk, c. 1931
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  Doctor Bag used by Charles William McCorkle Poynter, MD
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  Edward A. Holyoke, MD, PhD, in his office, c. 1950
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  Edward Holyoke, MD, PhD, 1979

  Transcript - Holyoke: Poynter was quite an amazing personality and probably a good deal more so and a good deal more influential on all the students that went by during his years as professor of anatomy. That’s where these old timers remember him and think of him all the time. I was in the last class that had him as full-time professor of anatomy.
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  Edward Holyoke, MD, PhD, 1980

  Transcript - Holyoke: We started off in Embryology. That was the first—our first morning of the first day. With Dr. [John] Latta introducing you to your medical education. And he used to introduce you in a very very effective sort of way. He’d… the student body—the brand new freshman class was invariably all assembled, because he didn’t come into the last moment. Then he came in through the back door with that quiet way of his. He started down the steps. And he goes… It was silent when he came in and the silence deepened, and the silence deepened, and the silence deepened, until it was totally profound. By the time he got down in front of the lecture table and then he turned around. “Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to your work in medicine. Embryology is a very excellent elimination course. It has many intricacies.”
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  Honorary Degree Hood belonging to Charles William McCorkle Poynter, MD
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  John S. Latta, PhD, 1979

  Transcript - Latta: Dr. Poynter was one of the most interesting men I ever knew. He was very open and frank about everything. His father had been a populist governor of Nebraska and he learned a lot of techniques from him. [laughter] I think which put him in good stead. He was very well known in anatomical circles and he was an excellent teacher of anatomy. He had been a surgeon and adjunct professor of anatomy when he was a surgeon in Lincoln. He thought that he had acquired tuberculosis and he was advised to quit his practice and that's when he became professor of anatomy. So, he had the background of knowing what some of the medical problems surgeons had and he knew how to instill that information into students. He was a very excellent professor of anatomy and a very great student of history of anatomy.
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  John S. Latta, PhD, 1983
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  John S. Latta, PhD, in his office, 1954
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  Laboratory Glass, c. 1950

  With the help of a mechanical engineer employed by the department, early UNMC physiologists made their own glass laboratory equipment. A.L. Bennett, MD, PhD, professor of physiology from 1934–1972, was thought to be the most proficient glass blower in the department.
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  Murphy Bone Gouge, c. 1900

  A hollow chisel used to cut into and remove portions of bone, the bone gouge is commonly used by orthopedic surgeons.
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  Physician’s Mirror, c. 1900

  Before the hands-free headlamp for use during medical procedures, there was the physician's mirror. Commonly used by ear, nose, and throat specialists, the concave mirror reflected a focused beam of light toward the patient and the physician looked through the hole to better see in the mouth or throat. It was particularly helpful when removing a patient’s tonsils.
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  Rowan Zetterman, MD, MACP, MACG, & Robert S. Wigton, MD, MS, 2017

  Transcript - Rowan Zetterman: So... so, the Gross Anatomy lab, there were generally five or six students around the cadaver during dissection. And we had partitions that were not floor-to-ceiling. There was a gap above and a gap below, and an area you could walk in. And so, you know, you didn't necessarily see the people in the next cube or anything like that. And Dr. Holyoke had a peculiar voice pattern that very few of us could mimic, and I certainly am not one of them. But there was an apocryphal story in one of the classes behind us that apparently there was a student demonstrating something with... with... you know, with a pointer or something and using Dr. Holyoke's voice to do the demonstration. And Dr. Holyoke walked up behind him and stood there and listened. And, of course, everybody else was just mortified in there—because they could see Dr. Holyoke was there, except for the kid that was talking. And he apparently finally got all done. And Dr. Holyoke said to him, “I don't know if you sound like that or not, but you better sound like that to the end of this class.” So, he had a sense of humor in his own way. Robert Wigton: Oh, it was a very sly sense of humor. And he pretended to be tougher and meaner than he was, really.
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  Sphygmomanometer with Smoke Kymograph, c. 1930s

  Used by UNMC physiologists for research purposes, this device measured a patient’s (human or animal) blood pressure (sphygmomanometer). A writing needle scratched the results on a piece of smoked paper placed around the brass drum (kymograph). The results consisted of a line showing the peaks and valleys where there were blood pressure changes. These graphs were routinely included in anatomy and physiology publications.
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  Stanley Truhlsen, MD, 2020

  Transcript - Dr. Stanley Truhlsen & Carrie Meyer, 2020 I mentioned Dr. Latta, and he gave us our initial lectures in anatomy, embryology and so forth. And in the end of eight weeks, you got an examination. And then you lined up outside of his office after the exam and corrected it and so forth to find out how you did. We had, as I said, I think upwards of 90 or 100 students in that class, but when we got through with that, when you went in to see Dr. Latta, he'd either smile at you or frown. If he smiled at you, you stayed at the class. If not, you were all through. You are not going to get to go to medical school. You could not pass the test. So it was kind of a memorable occasion to take that first eight weeks test and go get your report and find out if you're going to continue. If he smiled at you was kind of nice. CM: So when you walked in his office to find out your first test results, what were you thinking? ST: Thank God I made it. CM: Did he ever—did he say anything to you guys when you would walk in or was it really just that quick? ST: He'd look up and call you by name and look at his book and okay. That was it. But the whole class one-by-one went in and found out what their future was. CM: And those of you standing in the hallway as these other people are coming back out— ST: You either were going to continue in medical school or you flunked out after eight weeks. CM: But when you were seeing people come out of his office, what was the look on their face—what was the like you know if they if they made it? ST: I don't remember paying much attention to anybody else. I just knew I made it.
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  Surgical Suction Pump, c. 1914

  This pump was used to clear blood away from an area, so that the organ or wound was clearly visible. Surgical pumps are still routinely used in operating rooms today.
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  Trephine, without Blade Attachment, late 1800s

  A surgical instrument with a circular blade, the trephine came in a variety of shapes, but the two most common forms included one used to bore into bone and the other used to remove a piece of cornea during eye surgery. Bone marrow trephines are still used in hospitals to obtain bone biopsies for diagnosing bone marrow cancer and leukemia.
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  William “Bill” Karrer, MD, 2019

  Transcript - Dr. Holyoke was a very intense guy about anatomy. And we— we dissected our— our body specimen [53:30] to look at all the different muscles and so on. He was very stimulating. HB: I hear he had a pronounced a way of talking. Very— BK: Well, yeah. Yes. Yes. And when you got to be a [54:00] chief resident in surgery, you spent a semester part time in the anatomy department working with him. And he'd always have a way of asking a question and most of the time I had an answer. Sometimes it wasn't the right answer. He'd say, "Karrer, how'd you get this far in life?" [CHUCKLES] [54:30] He was just a— he was just a— he worked hard, if you weren't doing well, he gave you extra time. And tried to get you through all this.