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Heritage Highlights by Theme: Showcasing eclectic & lesser-seen pieces from the collections

For those passing by the Anatomy room in 123 St. Stephen's Green, you may notice the table-top display cases are home to some short-term displays. We are using broad themes to link and highlight all kinds of Heritage Collections. While themes may re-run in the future, the objects will change, so take a closer look. Head & Heart RCSI/MI/1040 Phrenology head We have no provenance or date recorded for this item, but this curiosity was recently studied by a cohort of students in the Heritage Collections Student Choice Module. Phrenology is considered a Victorian endeavour to link personality traits with scalp shape. In today’s world it is debunked and seen as problematic. One major point of contention is the belief that head shape can provide insights into underlying brain function. Other widely held criticisms of this pseudoscience relate to biases associated with eugenics, racism, classism and sexism.  RCSI/PAMP/370Bkk 'Clinical lectures on diseases of the heart’, delivered a
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Student Guest Blog: Exploring Gender Diversity at RCSI

Diversity at RCSI through the Decades (1970-2015)   By Vidhi Patel Final Med Student   The Project   Last summer , I had the privilege of working with RCSI Heritage Collections as part of the Research Summer School. My research project was to look at gender distribution among RCSI students and staff over a given period of time (1970 – 2015 ).   Gathering the Data   Now, more than ever, more women are entering the medical field. However, studies have shown that just because there are more women doctors, that doesn’ t mean that there are more women doctors in leadership positions. A broad review of the US medical landscape in 2019-2020 found that despite women comprising 48% of medical graduates, they held only 20% of department chair positions and a mere 18% of deanships, with even lower representation for minority women . 1 My research project focuse d on analyzing gender diversity trends within RCSI ’s undergraduate medical student body from 1970 to 2015, as well as assessing gender