The Time Travelling Operating Theatre. (360G-Wellcome-106945_Z_15_Z)

£29,811

In the past three years Imperial's Department of Surgery has run a series of highly successful, Wellcome-funded events using surgical simulation. The objective of these events has been to simulate current day operating theatres as a way of opening the closed world of surgery to the public. Alongside this the department has run another Wellcome-funded project recapturing the history of twentieth-century surgery through simulation-based re-enactment. Through this project, pioneering work has been undertaken investigating the roots of 'minimally invasive' surgery, a practice now considered standard. Our project takes these ideas a creative step forward by constructing a transportable simulation, which will show three different eras of surgery - 1884, 1984 and 2014 - during one viewing (a sequential simulation). Each two-hour event will comprise a comparable re-enactment of surgery from each of these three dates, performed by medical professionals from our wide range of contacts. In -between each performance there will be an opportunity for discussion between the audience, the performers and a small panel of experts, including historians, ethicists and medical professionals. Thus, the events will be fully participatory, with audience members invited not just to listen and witness but also to engage and contribute. By stimulating discussion about what surgery has been and what it might become, this project will contribute to public understanding of the history of surgery. It will also invite new perspectives on expectations upon future surgery, which will feed into wider ethical discussions and policy-making.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 29811
Applicant Surname Weldon
Approval Committee Small Arts Awards Funding Committee
Award Date 2015-01-14T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2014/15
Grant Programme: Title People Award
Internal ID 106945/Z/15/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Sharon Marie Weldon
Other Applicant(s) Dr Harriet Palfreyman, Dr Sally Frampton, Prof Roger Kneebone
Partnership Value 29811
Planned Dates: End Date 2016-01-31T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2015-02-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region Greater London