Philadelphia families and students have a fresh reason to visit the historic Mütter Museum. The new exhibition, “Creating a City of Medicine,” runs through next summer and showcases a hundred years of the city’s medical evolution.

From Epidemic to Public‑Health Agency

The story begins with the devastating yellow fever outbreak of the summer of 1793, which claimed about 10% of the city’s residents. The crisis spurred the formation of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, laying a foundation for modern civic health efforts.

Home Care and Early Medical Education

In the early 19th century, most Philadelphians received care at home rather than in hospitals, which were then viewed as places of death and poverty. Simultaneously, the city blossomed into a hub of medical education, with dozens of medical schools and clinical hospitals emerging in its first century.

Civil War Advances

The Civil War forced rapid medical progress. Visitors can see early anesthesia equipment, reconstructive surgery tools, neurology instruments, and a wooden prosthetic leg from the mid‑1800s—innovations we now take for granted.

Germ Theory and Sanitary Reform

The exhibition also highlights the 1880s discovery that germs cause disease, which sparked a sanitary revolution and transformed medical practice across the nation.

Curator Sara Ray, Ph.D., says the exhibit aims to give a broader view of medicine—past, present, and future. Discounted tickets are available for medical, nursing, and public‑health students using promo code MEDSTUDY250 for $15 off.

Original reporting: Allentown News – 6abc Philadelphia — read the source article.