Let an Edinburgh doctor take you on a deep and fascinating trip into our medical and surgical history!
On this three to four hour tour, we'll be circumnavigating the Old Town, visiting the sites and buildings where our medical history was forged, and learning how Edinburgh transformed from a sleepy outpost into a world-renowned powerhouse of medical training and research. We'll hear of student drudgery and drunkeness, of lightning-fast surgeons, and of the women who battled tirelessly to be the first to study medicine here. Not to mention scandals, feuds, and famous former Edinburgh medics such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Darwin, and the man who became Dr Frankenstein!
We'll begin the tour walking down Edinburgh's oldest street, finding out about the origins of Edinburgh Medicine and Surgery, and seeing the alleyway where our College of Physicians began.
Just off the Cowgate we'll locate Robertson's Close, site of 'The Little House', our first teaching hospital, before exploring the complex of its successor, the first Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Here at the Surgical profession's historic home, we'll have our refreshment break, as well as hearing about the years-long battle for women to be admitted to the Medical School.
You will make your own way to the meeting points