WDMS’ England Vacation

B. Dale Magee, MD
Curator

The Worcester District Medical Society sponsored a medical history and humanities tour of England from June 6-15, 2023 and we had a ball!  Designed by tour agency Jon Baines (of England) in coordination with WDMS curator Dale Magee the tour started in London, went to Bath, Bristol then Worcester (of course!) finishing up through Oxford and back to London with stops in between at the Jenner house, the Erasmus Darwin house (a physician and grandfather to Charles) and Stratford-upon-Avon.

We were blessed with good weather and a hardy group.  There was plenty of walking and, when in London, we used the Tube which was the perfect solution to London traffic and restored my faith in public transportation.  Much of the value added of the tour came with being greeted at our various stops by experts who gave us access and insights that we would not have had, had we traveled alone, plus, with this access there were no lines!

A visit to the Old Operating Theater in London, one of the oldest surviving operating theaters, will never be forgotten as we witnessed C J Rao undergoing a demonstration of how an amputation would have been carried out (he left with limbs intact).  Later, lunch at the George Inn which has been in service since 1540 and counts Shakespeare and Dickens among its diners.  The Florence Nightingale Museum (with a curator tour) and the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, a guild incorporated in 1617 and functioning today.

On day 6 we went to Bath with a look at Roman baths and medicine, then to Bristol, where we cruised in a private boat to look at the sights of this one-time shipping center (which has since remade itself with engineering, banking, and information technology).  We also got fist hand views of graffiti by the world-famous Banksy who hails from Bristol.

Particularly unique to this tour was a trip to Worcester, UK.  With a population of just over 100,000, there were cathedrals dating back to the Middle Ages, the Royal Worcester porcelain works and 2 medical museums.  The center of town is a pedestrian only area with hundreds of shops and restaurants.  We were joined for dinner by the mayor of Worcester (an engineer by training).  The city has a council of 35 to govern (imagine that in our Worcester!).

I am happy to work with anyone in planning other trips in the future- a great way to see and learn as well as get to know your colleagues.

To view pictures from the tour of England, click here.