A talk about the Polish School of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, established during the Second World War
Wednesday, 24 Nov 2021, 19:00 on ZOOM
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About this event
The Polish School of Medicine (PSM) was opened by the University of Edinburgh at during the Second World War, at a time when Polish universities were being destroyed by the Nazis and Polish professors died in concentration camps. More than 400 exiled soldiers and civilian refugees were associated with the PSM between 1941 and 1949. The mission of the PSM was to preserve Polish culture and learning in exile and train medical officers for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Due to the Communist takeover of their homeland, only a few graduates of the PSM returned to Poland after 1945. However, the legacy of the PSM continues to inspire Polish-Scottish friendship and cooperation in the field of medicine.
In the first part of the talk, Dr Michał Adam Palacz, post-doctoral researcher at Oxford Brookes University specialising in the history of medicine and migration, will provide a brief historical overview of the PSM and will discuss the significance of this unique institution within the broader context of the Second World War and Polish migration to Britain.
In the second part of the talk, Dr Maria Długołęcka-Graham, PSM Coordinator for the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Curator of the Polish School of Medicine Historical Collection, will highlight the role that Patriotism and Heroism played as building blocks in the life of the Polish School of Medicine, as demonstrated by the lives of some of its students and graduates.