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Physicians' Gallery

Physicians' Gallery at RCPE
Physicians' Gallery
Latest episode

201 episodes

  • Physicians' Gallery

    Ep.26 - Class Tickets

    2026/10/23 | 22 mins.
    This week, we’re uncovering the history of class tickets. Issued to students at the University of Edinburgh, these tickets gave you admission to the classes of individual teachers. Students would pick and choose what courses to take, all over Europe – buying a ticket for anatomy at Paris, botany in the Netherlands and ward rounds in Edinburgh. We uncover how the country-hopping studies of 18th century students was a stark contrast with 21st century university life.
    _______________
    Follow us on:
    Bluesky - @physiciansgallery
    Instagram - @physiciansgallery
    TikTok - @physiciansgallery
    Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery
    Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter
    To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate:
    www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate
    _______________
    The Team:
    Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer
    Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer
    Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer
  • Physicians' Gallery

    Ep.25 - Microscope

    2026/10/09 | 15 mins.
    This week, we’re exploring early microscopes, 1600s Dutch experimenter Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and red blood cells. Van Leeuwenhoek was an innovator, a microbiologist, and a curious man. Curious enough to make tiny lenses so he could examine leaves, metal and milk, as well as mites, lice and fleas. We uncover his eyeballing of eyeballs as well as his up close examination of exploding gunpowder, faeces and even the crust which developed between his toes after leaving his socks on for 10 days.

    _______________
    Follow us on:
    Bluesky - @physiciansgallery
    Instagram - @physiciansgallery
    TikTok - @physiciansgallery
    Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery
    Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter
    To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate:
    www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate
    _______________
    The Team:
    Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer
    Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer
    Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer
  • Physicians' Gallery

    Ep.24 - Womb

    2026/09/25 | 15 mins.
    This week, we’re exploring some womb history. We’re starting off with a bit of menopause magic – symptoms to look out for include a loss of feminine grace and bleeding piles. We dig into some homeopathic remedies and what the womb even is anyway – if Ancient Greeks are to be believed, it’s just an inside out scrotum.

    _______________
    Follow us on:
    Bluesky - @physiciansgallery
    Instagram - @physiciansgallery
    TikTok - @physiciansgallery
    Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery
    Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter
    To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate:
    www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate
    _______________
    The Team:
    Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer
    Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer
    Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer
  • Physicians' Gallery

    Ep.23 - James Gillray

    2026/09/11 | 17 mins.
    This week, we’re exploring the blood-filled art of James Gillray. We uncover the world of excretory medicine – from gentle emetics to breathing a vein. And we dig into the uncouth, evocative and sometimes obscene work of Georgian caricaturists – making a mockery of the strange practices of eighteenth century doctors and their patients.

    _______________
    Follow us on:
    Bluesky - @physiciansgallery
    Instagram - @physiciansgallery
    TikTok - @physiciansgallery
    Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery
    Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter
    To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate:
    www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate
    _______________
    The Team:
    Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer
    Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer
    Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer
  • Physicians' Gallery

    Ep.22 - Bloodletting Ulcer

    2026/08/28 | 14 mins.
    This week, we’re exploring the oozing story of bloodletting ulcers. Bloodletting is often described as gory, weird or baffling – but the stories of patients who were overbled and scarred in the process are often forgotten. In this episode we explore the experiences of those who got the rough end of the lancet when they were prescribed a dose of bloodletting.

    _______________
    Follow us on:
    Bluesky - @physiciansgallery
    Instagram - @physiciansgallery
    TikTok - @physiciansgallery
    Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery
    Sign up for our newsletter - https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter
    To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate:
    www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate
    _______________
    The Team:
    Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer
    Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter
    Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer
    Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer
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About Physicians' Gallery
This fortnightly podcast from the Physicians' Gallery at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh presents stories from medicine, past and present
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