My name is Leah Knight, and I am currently at student at Worcester Sixth Form College where I study History, Economics, and English Literature. Wanting to go on to study history at university next year, the opportunity to have a work experience placement at The Infirmary Museum and the George Marshall Medical Museum was something I was so excited to take up. During the week, while switching between the two locations, I was able to enhance my knowledge of medical history- something that is not featured in my A-level syllabus- but also explore in detail history that is local to me and discover things about the area that I never knew!
Over the course of my placement, I was able to complete a vast range of tasks that gave me an insight into the industry as well as the chance to tour the museums and learn about their rich history. One task I completed was transcribing oral histories that were recorded with healthcare staff about their experiences of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Not only was this extremely interesting to hear more from the perspective of those working on the front lines in healthcare, but also it was fascinating to compare this more recent medical history to what I had learnt about at the Infirmary in terms of the instruments used, key people, and general standards of medical practice- as an example, it was so interesting to hear about the strict covid isolation policies in hospitals used to prevent the spread of the virus in comparison to the fact that germ theory was not even published by Louis Pasteur until 1861 when the infirmary had already been operating for 90 years! In addition to this, other work included identifying links between the Infirmary’s history and the school curriculum to make the museums more beneficial to GCSE students and also creating records for various pieces that had been donated to the George Marshall Medical Museum. These included original photographs of the final service in the Jenny Lind Chapel that featured people such as Dorris Kershaw- a lady whose wonderful story is on display in the Infirmary Museum. Overall, I had such a valuable experience working at both museums and would encourage everyone to open their eyes to the incredible history on their doorstep by giving them both a visit.
