Chicago's Hidden Gems: International Museum of Surgical Science showcases history of medicine

A hidden gem on Chicago's North Side is a place where skeletons and skulls aren't scary, they're educational – the International Museum of Surgical Science.

"People have heard of us, but they don't really understand what it is," said the museum's director of operations, Michelle Rinard. "There are a lot of things people really like to see at the museum that you aren't going to see anywhere else."

That's just what the doctor ordered at the International Museum of Surgical Science in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

Located on Lake Shore Drive, the museum looks more like someone's house. That's because it was. For decades, it was a mansion, dating back to 1917, but since 1954 it's been North America's only museum dedicated to surgery.

"We're trying to give people an understanding of what surgery was like in ancient times, and how it progressed over the years," Rinard said.

Inside the four-story museum, visitors can find everything from surgical tools from long ago to skulls that have seen better days to medical equipment once considered state of the art – like an iron lung used to treat polio patients from the 1920s to the 1960s.

"The head would be outside of the lung here, and they would be treated. Their body would be inside the pressurized chamber, which would move the lungs up and down so they could breathe," Rinard said.

Inside the Ophthalmology Gallery, visitors learn the first eye surgeries were performed by Sushruta, a physician in India in 500 B.C.

A key factor in the museum is the connection between surgery and art. The museum was founded by Dr. Max Thorek, who also was an artist, musician, and fine arts photographer.

The museum's Hall of Immortals features 12 stone statues of important figures throughout medicine.

"It starts with Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and goes through time ending with Marie Curie.

The Hall of Murals contains scenes showing important developments in surgery through the ages, including germ control.

"Some of the paintings that you'll upstairs see show doctors, surgeons, in suits, and not in scrub gear or wearing gloves," Rinard said. "A lot of these advancements are more recent than you think."

When did society start to realize and understand the benefits of surgery and how it could work?

"Surgery really began with just amputation," Rinard said. "Over the years, advancements have led to treating the infection, treating the patient so that they didn't need to have such extreme surgeries."

Extreme surgeries often have been called for in times of war.

An exhibit called "The Artistry of Plastic Surgery" shows perfectly how art and craniofacial surgery intersect.

In World War I and World War II, surgeons had to become artists, expertly mending facial structures virtually destroyed by bombs.

"What's happening right now is artists are teaching surgeons how to sculpt ears, how to sculp noses. So there's so many cross references between fields," Rinard said.

The museum's four floors are filled with fascinating objects and concepts all telling the story of surgery; with all of its trials, errors, and successes.

Rinard said people might think we've learned all we need to know about surgery, but that's not the case.

"There's going to be so many more advancements," she said. "I'm sure that there's things that we're doing now that 100 years from now we couldn't believe that we were doing that back then,'" Rinard said.

The museum also offers concerts and a fun gift shop where you can find books, toys, and puzzles related to surgical science. Couples even get married there.

For more information, log onto imss.org.