Warren Anatomical Museum

Although it is called a «museum» it is really a few glass cases nk the fifth floor of the Harvard Medical Library. To get in you need to show a photo ID and sign in with the guard at the front desk.
Though it is a small exhibit it is well worth a visit — very interesting specimens, instruments and photos are on display outlining a bit of the history of medicine, with one case in particular giving an emphasis on the abnormal.

Boring. Maybe it was because I had to go for school. The holocaust part was interesting but set up awkwardly and was very skimpy on details that should have been there in some parts

3.5 stars…
This is NOT a museum whatsoever. It’s 4 glass display cases (two large, two small) on the 5^th floor of an academic building on the Harvard Medical campus. You have to sign in and show ID to get into the building and they tell you not to take photos (no one’s on the 5^th floor to stop you though). Despite my disappointment that this wasn’t a museum, the exhibit was very interesting none the less. They have some historic pieces of medical equipment, photographs, teaching aids, and some bizarre biological pieces (like fetus skeletons and bones with musket balls embedded into them). Definitely worth checking out if you’re into this kind of stuff, just don’t travel too far for this place thinking it’s a large museum.

Well this isn’t a museum, we were a little disappointed. They had some display items about 4 cases worth. About ½ the cases are empty because the items were taken away for preservation. It takes about 20 mins to get through the displays. If you were planning a specific trip, don’t. If you are in the immediate area then it is worth just stopping in. Thank goodness it was free.

I wouldn’t exactly call this a museum, more of a display at the Harvard Medical library. That aside, it is definitely interesting and worth checking out if you can find it. It is also free and how often are going to see conjoined fetal skeletons anyway?

This exhibit is so interesting and strange, if you are interested in the creepiness of medical standards of the past or the crazy deformations possible in the human body you need to go here. The other reviewers give pretty complete lists of what you can expect to see so I won’t go into much detail. I only took off one star because I expected this to be a complete museum, but really it’s just 4 little displays on one floor of a library. Don’t get me wrong, they absolutely PACKED those displays with amazingly morbid and incredibly interesting things, but don’t think you’re going to a full museum, Warren Anatomical Exibit might be a better name. SO cool, go spend an hour or two having your mind blown!

Fabulously, morbidly, but intensely interesting! I absolutely loved this museum. A collection of history’s oddities and medical developments displayed in several glass cases. Fetal skeletons, dried body parts, outdated surgical tools, kidney stones, skulls with various injuries and maladies, Lister’s first attempts at antisepsis in surgical procedures, the list goes on!
If I walked away with any knowledge from this 5^th floor museum, its that I wouldn’t want surgery in the past. Barbaric tools and almost-​guaranteed death from surgical infection. Oh.. . and I would have never wanted to be a guy with a kidney stone in those days.. . come to the museum and you’ll see why! :shudders:
As a nurse, this museum was fascinating. To see the evolution of the instruments and the discoveries made along the way gave me new appreciation for how far medicine has come. I highly recommend this museum for the «not-​faint-​at-​heart». Wish it were bigger!
NOTE: This museum is absolutely FREE of charge. Located in the Countway Library of Medicine’s Center for the History of Medicine, all you need is a photo ID and to check in at the Library’s front desk!

This place is weird!
Why on earth would anybody collect bladder stones, or antiquated instruments to remove them?
On my first visit to the Museum I was harassed by the library doorman/​guard who was weird, first he told me the museum was closed (which it wasn’t) then he spent about ten minutes trying to persuade me to give him $ 10 for entry… He wasn’t doing it in a funny playful way… It was really strange, but it simply added to the experience.
The Museum is not all that large, but the collection of… things is definitely one of a kind. Some of the things are definitely enough to turn ones stomach, so perhaps don’t plan on eating directly before or after unless oil paintings of rotting limbs gets you appetite going!
Anyhow the collection is amazing, and its FREE, so why not eh?

Holy Crap, I loved this place!
I first heard about it on a website pertaining to «strange Boston» and we made the trek. It was a bit confusing following my phone GPS and heading down the alleyway past ambulances and doctors/​nurses in their garb.
We kept looking at the addresses and walked the alley until the end and then realized the museum was INSIDE the Harvard Medical Library — ohhh. you walk in, sign in and I felt a little like the ghoul I am as the security guard looked at us a bit suspiciously ESPECIALLY since we do NOT look like med students.
Once past the guard and up to the 5^th floor, we were fascinated by the displays of skeletons with rickets, the kidney stone collections, civil war surgical tools, skulls, fetal skeletons and the like. Awesome old medical photographs from the late 1800’s and the first ether mask.
I was so bummed that no photography was allowed as I would’ve loved to document this place. One of the BEST free museums I’ve ever been to, hands down.
The tools kinda creeped Marcel out a bit but I have to say it was like looking in a candy store for me! A simply amazing collection of curiosities to see!

Anyone interested in medicine should stop by here. Back in the days before the internets and glossy 11×14 atlases of human anatomy and skeletons and pathological specimens, doctors had to be old school and well, preserve weird shit they saw in the field. Not only do they have the skull of Phineas Gage, but they have a lot of ridiculously creepy crap. From what I remember, I saw…
unique skeletons!
a really odd assortment of medical tools like bone saws and uhh… yeah i don’t wanna ruin it but «crazy ass foreceps» works
weird crap that shouldn’t be in your body but occured anyways!
Definitely worth a visit if you’re a medical professional or hell, interested in science with a bit of history.

If you’re going to the MFA, Phineas Gage’s skull is on display just a few minutes away! The Countway Library is a little intimidating — it’s open to the public until 5 pm, but you’ll need to sign in with the guard. Take the elevator to the 5^th floor, and there, in cases around the central walkway, are all kinds of medical oddities, both icky and educational, including really primitive forceps, mummified deformed limbs, and best of all, both Phineas Gage’s skull and the tamping rod that pierced it! The latter was completely different than I expected, even though I’ve read a lot about Gage’s case — I won’t ruin it for you. Bonus: you’ll be the only one there, although one of the curators did come out and give me a cookie. So, if you’re in the neighborhood and have 20 minutes or so to be edified and grossed out, definitely stop in.