The International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS) is the only museum in North America devoted exclusively to the history of surgery, while also embracing contemporary art exhibitions that engage with medicine, the body, and related themes. The IMSS is a division of the International College of Surgeons, founded by Max Thorek in 1934.

The museum is housed in a historic 1917 mansion originally designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw for socialite Eleanor Robinson Countiss. The design was inspired by the French Petit Trianon (at Versailles). The building features four floors of gallery space and remains a fine example of early-20th-century luxury residential architecture now adapted for museum use. The IMSS aims to enrich people’s lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances in surgery and related subjects in health and medicine. While its core is medical history and surgical science, the museum also explicitly supports contemporary art exhibitions that explore the body, medicine, diagnostics, technology, and how they intersect with culture. 

For more information visit imss.org.

Image: Hall of Immortals, Michael Robinson Photography