Museum pedagogy

 A review

Background

It seems self-evident that museums are places of learning. That visitors come to learn based on what the museum offers in the kaleidoscope of cultural heritage available.

How do museums provide the learning opportunities to the visitor whether they are children, families, or foreign tourists?

That is the focus of this review.

In 2020 the International Council of Museums had an article[1] focussing on museum learning as a forgotten profession. They argued that the term “education” had many interpretations and in some instances was interpreted as “representing the omniscient museum that explains the wonders of the world and arts from a high ivory tower to a passive audience. This is far from reality.”

[2]Falk and Dierking’s contextual model of learning in museums is considered important in understanding how museums can improve the effectiveness of learning in museums.

[3]Mifsud argues that museums should have trained educators to run museum learning programmes.

Learning design and delivery is not always treated the same as other positions in museums. The new National Museum in Oslo has a trained pedagog but she does not get the same salary as curators with the same education and experience[4]. Is this a signal from management? Does the focus on subject matter expertise override the need to provide learning experiences for visitors?

Clearly change is on the way.

“Over the past 30 years the work undertaken by museum educators has broadened considerably. Programs consisting of children sitting in rows listening to a ‘lecture’ and having specimens or objects passed around, or filing past displayed objects, have largely disappeared. There has been a major shift towards experiential opportunities for students to enjoy shared, engaging, and relevant experiences. Many more programs are conducted within exhibition spaces. Many more programs emphasise learning processes more than outcomes — for example, how to look, interrogate, deduce, and evaluate. Inquiry-based learning, personalised learning agendas and allowing students to have ownership and responsibility for their learning rather than simply gathering information are emphasised.”[5]

Circumstances also dictate how best to provide that learning experience. The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is undergoing a major transformation to remodel itself as the Viking Age Museum. It has decided to use external assistance from a major European designer of museums[6]. At another project and a at a different scale the Munch Museum in Oslo will reorganize to strengthen its commercial offering. A part of this is to appoint a deputy director for “formidling”, working on the design and delivery of learning.[7]

Both projects utilise external partners to realise their goals.

So how best to provide learning experiences for museums? Could internal strengthening of competence in the field of learning design be of value?

Terminology is important here. Pedagogy often refers to the development and delivery of subject content and is commonly used in school settings. In those instances the individual has both subject content knowledge, learning development skills and delivery or presentation competence. So a museum pedagog is the person who develops the learning experience and may deliver it.

However this might still leave the development as a “teacher knows best approach” where the SME (subject matter expert) develops the learning for the content they are expert in and misses opportunities to involve LED’s (learning experience developers) and other actors and the learners themselves in the development process.

Perhaps there is something to be gained by using the discipline of instructional design in its structured systems approach to the design of learning.

It has been used in museums to enhance the learning experience.[8]

There are two important caveats here. First, ID adopts a learner-centred approach to development of learning, the learner is involved in the process. Secondly, the delivery of the experience is left to others with the guidance and presentation skills required. The focus is on design of learning. It also provides concrete learning outcomes where “action verbs” based on levels of cognition demanded are an element of design. Identifying a Norlands boat is a lower level of cognition than differentiating a Norlands boat from a Nordfjord boat. By comparison understanding Norwegian coastal boats is vague type of learning outcome that is open to different interpretations.

For many decades now the ADDIE model of instructional design has been used, modified ad implemented in learning and training.[9] Its 5 distinct phases of development provide a structure to for development.  The analysis phase focuses on setting goals and analysing the “target population”, the learners. The design phase creates the learning outcomes and the steps needed to reach them whilst the development phase produces and tests the content. The implementation and evaluation phases often run concurrently as the results are evaluated and the design modified. [10]

 

Another advantage in a structured and systematic approach is that the different uses of technology can be ascertained for the given learning objectives to find the appropriate use of gaming, simulation, and mobile based learning.

Gaming has become very popular with the younger generations[11][12] and now is as popular as streaming pay TV.[13] Perhaps gaming has a role to play in enhancing museum learning experiences. The point is that a learning experience designer can assess the need for different modes and media for sets of given learning objectives. Balancing intellectual skill needs against motor skills is part of the design process. When to employ simulation as opposed to the real scenario for example.

There is no simple solution, only the opportunity to explore different approaches that need in our modern world to incorporate some form of technology.

 

References

Australia, National Museum of. ‘Understanding Museums - The Museum Education Mix: Students, Teachers and Museum Educators’. National Museum of Australia, 20 October 2011. https://nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/JGriffin_2011.html.

Bugg, Sarah. ‘Museums at Play’. In Museums at Play: Games, Interaction and Learning, edited by Katy Beale, 69–72. Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2011.

Falk, John H., and Lynn D. Dierking. Learning from Museums. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.

Hamburg, KulturPort De Kultur-Magazin. ‘Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo appoints Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Tamschick Media+Space (TMS) for the design and realisation of museum’. KulturPort.De — Follow Arts ~ Online-Magazin, 11 July 2022. https://www.kultur-port.de/news/17958-museum-of-the-viking-age-in-oslo-appoints-ralph-appelbaum-associates-raa-and-tamschick-media-space-tms-for-the-design-and-realisation-of-museum.html.

‘Hun ønsker seg et statusløft for formidling ved museene. Møt Line Engen ved Nasjonalmuseet.’ Accessed 16 February 2023. https://www.forskerforum.no/hun-onsker-seg-et-statusloft-for-formidling-ved-museene-mot-line-engen-ved-nasjonalmuseet/.

International Council of Museums. ‘Museum Education and Learning: The Forgotten Professions?’ Accessed 19 February 2023. https://icom.museum/en/news/museum-education-and-learning-the-forgotten-professions/.

Kurt, Dr Serhat. ‘ADDIE Model: Instructional Design’. Educational Technology (blog), 29 August 2017. https://educationaltechnology.net/the-addie-model-instructional-design/.

Lambert, Stephanie. ‘Museums at Play’. In Museums at Play: Games, Interaction and Learning, edited by Katy Beale, 384–95. Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2011.

Md Nor, Romiza, and Muhammad Hafizuddin Abdul Razak. ‘Interactive Design in Enhancing User Experience in Museum’. Journal of Computing Research and Innovation 6, no. 3 (13 September 2021): 86–91. https://doi.org/10.24191/jcrinn.v6i3.249.

‘Ready,Player Four Billion’. The Economist, 25 March 2023.

Times of Malta. ‘Museums Are Places for Learning’. Accessed 30 January 2023. https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/museums-are-places-for-learning.321423.

‘Tone Hansen vil styrke den kommersielle profilen ved Munchmuseet’, 20 April 2023. https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/eJe32R/munchmuseet-vil-styrke-den-kommersielle-profilen.

Vulpen, Erik van. ‘The ADDIE Model for Instructional Design Explained’. AIHR (blog), 2 November 2020. https://www.aihr.com/blog/addie-model/.

 

 

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[1] ‘Museum Education and Learning’.

[2] Falk and Dierking, Learning from Museums.

[3] ‘Museums Are Places for Learning’.

[4] ‘Hun ønsker seg et statusløft for formidling ved museene. Møt Line Engen ved Nasjonalmuseet.’

[5] Australia, ‘Understanding Museums - The Museum Education Mix’.

[6] Hamburg, ‘Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo appoints Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Tamschick Media+Space (TMS) for the design and realisation of museum’.

[7] ‘Tone Hansen vil styrke den kommersielle profilen ved Munchmuseet’.

[8] Md Nor and Abdul Razak, ‘Interactive Design in Enhancing User Experience in Museum’.

[9] Kurt, ‘ADDIE Model’.

[10] Vulpen, ‘The ADDIE Model for Instructional Design Explained’.

[11] Bugg, ‘Playing with Light’.

[12] Lambert, ‘The Games People Play: A Case Study’.

[13] ‘Special Report Video Games’.

Trincomalee and tea

 

Last port of call

Half full of jute from Chalna we were now approaching Trincomalee on the east coast of Ceylon to fill up with tea. This could be exciting.

Outward bound we had been in Colombo for a few weeks, both at anchor waiting a berth and then in port. It had been one of the most enjoyable port visits on the voyage, not least because of the opportunity to meet people ashore especially good-looking girls in the swimming club.

[1]                                                                                                                       

     Now we were to enter one of the largest and safest harbours in the Indian Ocean, Trincomalee on the east coast of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Having been fought over by many European maritime nations because of its strategic location it was now a naval and commercial port run by the navy.

The immaculately dressed naval pilot arrived even wearing white gloves, now a little soiled after climbing the pilot ladder to be greeted by our Captain who, surprisingly was also immaculate. Not an aertex singlet to be seen!

Well, Captain, we are taking you to an anchorage so you can load tea directly from barges. This did not sound too good, no shore leave, well well.

We anchored in a large bay with a sandy beach behind which was a tropical jungle where even with the naked eye you could see monkeys jumping in the trees.

There is a club on the beach, said the pilot, that is available to you to relax whilst you are loading. This sounded a lot better, I thought. Who knows who we will meet.

We anchored in 20 fathoms and laid back on the anchor until it took hold. Right laddie, said Jock, the second mate, we need to find some transits for our position. Transits, what are they, I innocently asked. You stupid Yorkshire boy, they are a simple way to check that we are not dragging the anchor and you will need them as you will be doing the night anchor watch alone! What alone on the bridge! Yes, said Jock and we need both daytime and night-time transits. So patiently he took me through the process.

[2]A transit bearing is when two fixed objects are in line. They will have a transit bearing only when they are in line. So we need to search for such objects now that we are stationery at anchor. They need to be visible day and night to the naked eye and fixed on the chart. We need at least two, better three such transit bearings to fix our position. We also need to keep in mind that the vessel swings with the tide and there can be some variation in the chosen bearings. Only experience will tell you whether it is because of the ship swinging with the tide or that we are dragging our anchor. That will keep you on your toes on the night watch!

So we searched around the coast and found some good transits, church spires with prominent hills, lit buoys with lighthouses, all on the chart.

OK, draw them on the chart and note the bearing and then check with the gyro bearing compass and report back. Dutifully did that and then came the examination! Was there a difference between the bearing on the chart and that you took with the gyro compass. Yes, I replied. OK why is that Jock pressed me for an answer. Luckily, I had spent some time with my correspondence course which normally was incomprehensible to me but on coastal navigation I seemed to grasp it.

The bearing on the chart is a true bearing and the difference with the gyro is the compass error. Good he replied and what if you had used a magnetic compass? It still would be the compass error, I replied made up of variation because the magnetic pole is not at the true north pole and deviation because of the local magnetism of the steel ship. Before he could ask another question, I said, and variation can be found in the compass rose on the chart. Wow, replied Jock, not such a numb skull after all!

[3]

So started a couple of weeks whilst barges came and went and loaded chest after chest of tea whose fragrance pervaded the whole ship. Best of all we were put on night anchor watches and mine was midnight to 06:00 leaving me free in the afternoons. This a dream job, very little to do on night anchor watch, hanging over the wing of the bridge to catch what little wind there was and check the transit bearings from time to time. A little anxious when we swung with the tide as the transit bearings came out of line a little. Were we dragging anchor or was it just the natural catenary of the anchor chain changing position. Apart from that I just dreamed of those girls at the Colombo swimming club. What lucky chap was chatting them up now whilst I was stuck at the other side of the country!

The Chief officer said we would put the motor lifeboat in the water for runs ashore and to teach the apprentices small boat handling. This was going to be fun. Of the four lifeboats we had only one had an engine and this was lowered from its stowed position to the embarkation point on the boat deck and we

scrambled in. Once in the water the chief officer decided a run ashore to the club on the beach would be an excellent introduction to small boat seamanship. You need to know that the lifeboat was like a giant bathtub and handled like one so manoeuvring was not easy but slowly we mastered the basic actions and were rewarded by a beer on the veranda of this club that seemed remarkably deserted except for the hundreds of monkeys racing through the trees.

[4]Some days we tried to water-ski in the harbour on the chutes made to contain water escaping onto the tea barges behind the lifeboat. This was not very successful as soon as we stood up the lifeboat did not have enough power to keep us up and we gently subsided into the water again. A lot of fun anyway.

Far too soon the hatches were battened down and chippy started wedging the hatch covers and the tea exporter gave us all a small tea chest of orange pekoe tea and we left that lovely harbour and started our voyage back over the Indian Ocean to Aden.

The southern tip of Ceylon is renowned fishing grounds, so we needed to keep a good lookout for the small wooden outrigger boats that fished well offshore and were difficult to spot especially at night as not all of them displayed any sort of light.

This area is also known for the concentration of whale sharks especially in February and March and they are slow swimmers so avoiding them is imperative. So visual lookout was a prime job for us junior apprentices.

Once we cleared Ceylon and entered the Indian Ocean, Jock turned to me and with a broad smile and said, now laddie we have 10 days of ocean voyage in relatively calm seas, time for you to start learning Celestial Navigation. I was dreading this as quite apart from the practical work of using a sextant that I felt competent at, the notion of mathematics and trigonometry left me quite numb. I was bottom of the bottom class in my year at school for three years running for maths. All those X’s and Y’s and negative numbers meant nothing to me!

Let us keep it simple and concentrate on the “noon sight” to find latitude and longitude. You do know what latitude and longitude is? You have used them on the chart so what if we do not have any coast, only sea and need to find our position?

So we have the sun, and we know it rises in the east and sets in the west every day. At a precise time every day it reaches its zenith, its highest altitude. This time we will call local noon for wherever we are. Greenwich in the UK is the prime meridian where longitude is zero degrees, and the time zone is called GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

Now we know the earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours, one day. So that means it moves at 360/24= 15 degrees of longitude per hour. How can this help us? With an accurate clock, that’s how and we have two chronometers thanks to [5]John Harrison, a Yorkshireman in 1730. He invented a clock that could keep accurate time even at sea with all the movement of the ship. We have two and we check their accuracy every day against the “Greenwich radio pips” and note any error. They are adjusted to keep Greenwich time wherever we are in the world. Savvy so far?

So we get an accurate chronometer time for the time the sun is at its zenith for our position. We then use our Nories Nautical tables to find the time the sun reached its zenith at Greenwich, the prime meridian (0 degrees). So now we have the times for noon at Greenwich and for our position. The difference between them is converted to longitude at 15 degrees per hour to give us our approximate longitude. It is only approximate because it is difficult to measure the exact altitude for the zenith as the sun moves ever so slowly as it passes through noon. Nevertheless it can be accurate within 15 nautical miles, enough out in the ocean.

So now we need to calculate latitude for the same time. We can do this with our noon sight also. The altitude of the sun at its zenith means it is on our meridian of longitude, due south or north, and it becomes relatively easy to measure its declination. The suns declination is the angular distance of the sun north or south of the equator and we can read its value from our nautical tables for precisely this time. You will remember that the sun wanders north and south in the year because of its tilt axis between the winter solstice when there is the shortest day and the summer solstice when there is the longest day in summer. We need to know the angular distance when the sun is directly overhead, the zenith distance. This is simply 90 degrees minus our observed altitude. Latitude is then a matter of arithmetic.

If the declination and approximate latitude are in the same hemisphere and the latitude is greater than the declination, we add the zenith distance to the declination.  For the same hemisphere if latitude is less than declination, we subtract the declination from the zenith distance. If latitude and declination have different names, we subtract declination from the zenith distance.

OK, I see your eyes are glazing over so enough for now but every noon sight you can calculate our approximate position alongside us.

Go and find our approximate position from the start to be sure what hemisphere we are in and find the declination for today from your pristine new [6]Nories tables. Also find the table for converting time to longitude and the time of meridian passage at Greenwich.

Steaming northwest across the Indian Ocean you also cross a much older traditional trading route between Africa and the Arabian Gulf and we often saw sea-going dhows on passage. A refreshing sight.

References

‘Bossoir_a_gravité.Jpg (960×1280)’. Accessed 9 April 2023. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Bossoir_a_gravit%C3%A9.jpg.

‘Chronometer Watch’. In Wikipedia, 10 August 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chronometer_watch&oldid=1103608912.

‘OLD EDITION Norie’s Nautical Tables’. Accessed 19 April 2023. https://www.imray.com/product/old-edition-nories-nautical-tables/ib0095-1/.

Small crates and tea chests. ‘Small Crates and Tea Chests’. Accessed 8 April 2023. https://farthinglayouts.blogspot.com/2015/04/small-crates-and-tea-chests.html.

‘Transit Bearings - Google Search’. Accessed 7 April 2023. https://www.google.com/search?q=transit+bearings&tbm=isch&chips=q:transit+bearing,g_1:navigation:4C6g_BECbgg%3D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAzo_835f-AhWWxyoKHWWvDpkQ4lYoAHoECAEQJg&biw=1501&bih=686#imgrc=HEjzrQFdswtcsM.

‘Trincomalee: India’s Call’, 27 April 2017. https://www.vifindia.org/article/2017/april/27/trincomalee-india-s-call.

 

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[1] ‘Trincomalee: India’s Call’, 27 April 2017, https://www.vifindia.org/article/2017/april/27/trincomalee-india-s-call.

[2] ‘Transit Bearings - Google Search’, accessed 7 April 2023, https://www.google.com/search?q=transit+bearings&tbm=isch&chips=q:transit+bearing,g_1:navigation:4C6g_BECbgg%3D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAzo_835f-AhWWxyoKHWWvDpkQ4lYoAHoECAEQJg&biw=1501&bih=686#imgrc=HEjzrQFdswtcsM.

[3] ‘Small Crates and Tea Chests’, Small Crates and Tea Chests (blog), accessed 8 April 2023, https://farthinglayouts.blogspot.com/2015/04/small-crates-and-tea-chests.html.

[4] ‘Bossoir_a_gravité.Jpg (960×1280)’, accessed 9 April 2023, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Bossoir_a_gravit%C3%A9.jpg.

[5] ‘Chronometer Watch’, in Wikipedia, 10 August 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chronometer_watch&oldid=1103608912.

[6] ‘OLD EDITION Norie’s Nautical Tables’, accessed 19 April 2023, https://www.imray.com/product/old-edition-nories-nautical-tables/ib0095-1/.

The Captain's teeth

 

An event in the Indian Ocean

We were heading SE from Aden to the southern tip of Ceylon, right in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

There was a gentle NE’ly swell from the NE monsoon, and we rolled easily in a blue Indian ocean with hardly a cloud in the sky, the sort of day a seafarer dreams of. The flying fish were jumping and there was no traffic and a clear ocean horizon.

I was now a third officer proudly displaying my single gold bar on my epaulets having successfully passed my Second Officers certificate.

So I was the watchkeeping officer on the 8-12 morning watch on the bridge.

I had risen at 07:30, had a quick shower and a breakfast of fish kedgeree with that aromatic flavour of curry with hard boiled eggs and rice. Then, up to the bridge for 07:55 to relieve the chief officer of the watch. Handover was easy, no traffic and the C/O had fixed our position with the stars at dawn, so everything was in order.

Started checking bridge instruments and chart position before winding the two chronometers in the chartroom. The captain would be up shortly after his breakfast for his daily tour.

Uniform etiquette is clear. Full appropriate uniform for eating in the saloon and always in port. Deepsea was a little different, a more relaxed approach, shirt outside your shorts, long socks rolled down, that sort of thing. However Captains could be an exception to even these rules and our short rotund Liverpudlian Captain was likely to turn up in oversize “empire builder” shorts, flipflops and an aertex singlet and so he did.

Good morning third mate, all well was his morning greeting. Everything OK, I replied as he moved to the port wing of the bridge to catch the NE monsoon breeze in order to cool down.

Then it happened!

There was a gasp from the captain, he turned and ran down the portside ladder to his cabin. The only thing I saw was that his face seemed to have changed, sort of collapsed.

He returned to bridge shortly after looking quite normal. “Third Offither, thend for thippy”! What is this, his speech seemed odd. Has he had a stroke I wondered. “Third Offither, thend for thippy”, he repeated. OK, who is thippy? Then it dawned on me that he wanted Chippy, our carpenter. But what for? What could Chippy do for our captain’s speech impediment and why had it happened?

Of course, he had dentures and must have yawned over the side of the ship and his dentures fell into the Indian ocean. Now wearing a reserve set that seemed to affect his speech he wanted Chippy to make some adjustments to his dentures to improve his speech so he could at least communicate with us.

[1]Chippy arrived on the bridge in his usual style. A small muscular man around 50 years of age dressed

in a grubby T-shirt tucked into oversize blue shorts supported by a broad leather belt into which was stuck a hammer, his constant companion. This was topped off with a pair of cut-off wellington boots.

He also had dentures which he rarely wore and as a result his bulbous nose and his chin nearly met! A more Popeye type of person is difficult to imagine.

He came from Newcastle and had a broad Geordie accent slurred by his alcoholism so that he was very difficult to understand.

So here we have the scenario, a Liverpudlian rotund captain with a sibilant lisp and a Geordie carpenter trying to communicate around the problem of the captains dentures. Chippy disappeared to his workshop to reappear with saws, knives and an assortment of rasps and files.

Whilst I was banned from the port wing of the bridge, I could hear everything.

Repeated work on the dentures was followed by a fitting and an attempt to speak.

“Thally thelth thea thhelth on the thea thhore”

This was repeated numerous times and it took some time before I could decipher it.

“Sally sells seashells on the seashore”. A tongues twister we all knew from childhood but being used here to test the status of the Captains speech defect.

Slowly things improved but what if they did not and the captain had the conn, controlling the ship. What would “starboard ten degrees” sound like or even worse “full astern”.

Well, after a couple of hours of work the captain was satisfied and Chippy was dismissed.

The captain came through bridge smiling on his way to his cabin.

“Thank you third offither Douglath!

OK, much better.

 

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[1] ‘Popeye - Google Search’, Texas State Historical Association, accessed 27 March 2023, https://www.google.com/search?q=popeye&sxsrf=APwXEddlvRAdJnwHRIvecdfbJUeVVq9-CQ:1679909946717&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHsoOd6Pv9AhUlYPEDHblNAW4Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1542&bih=696&dpr=0.8#imgrc=xuw9h-bcUWpN3M.

The Doctor's surgery waiting room

In the old days when you were unwell or sick you rang the doctor, and he came to your home. He was called the family doctor and everyone in the family used the same doctor. There was close bond between the family and this single doctor. He might prescribe medication or recommend specialist examination or a trip to the hospital. Medication required a prescription that he wrote out on the spot in handwriting. A trip to the chemist was required to get the medicine or pills.

Today that has all changed. If you feel unwell you must make a journey to the doctor’s surgery unless it is an emergency and then an ambulance will come and take charge.

A doctor’s surgery today is more like a small treatment centre with nurses, laboratories, and a host of specialist doctors. You have your own personal doctor that you choose and who remains your doctor over time.

To see the doctor you must first book online through the national health service. This requires passwords and security checks before you come your doctor’s calendar where you choose a free fifteen-minute slot. Yes, a fifteen-minute slot is the initial planned contact time that can change on circumstances. This is important as the schedule slips throughout the day. It is therefore wise to book a slot early in the day unless you are prepared to wait up until one hour after the planned time and pay extra parking fees for your car. So today, the responsibility is yours to get into the doctor’s surgery at your own costs. After that your national health plan should cover your requirements.

You enter the reception area where a notice informs you that if you already have an appointment, you can go directly and sit outside your doctor’s office. The problem is with reduced seating because of covid this is not as easy as it seems.

Once seated and your mobile is in vibration mode it is time t look around. After all a doctor’s waiting room is a window on humanity.

There is an anxious elderly couple opposite holding hands. Hope they get some good news. Next to me is a young mother with a sick baby who cries and cries and cries. We all smile and make gurgling sounds in an attempt to be friendly and perhaps a little helpful.

Down the waiting room is a worker with his hand covered in a bandage talking to a colleague in a foreign language, possibly Polish.

There is a quite different atmosphere here, it is palpable, people are anxious over concern for their wellbeing.

Suddenly a door opens a nurse shouts a name and waits for a response. No response so the door closes, and we subside into a state of anticipation, what next. The same door opens again, and another name is shouted down the corridor. Here, shouts a young women dressed in very fashionable clothes with a Gucci bag over her shoulder, and she disappears into the room and the door marked “laboratory” closes. What happens in the laboratory, I wonder? Five minutes later I have an answer. A man comes out in shirtsleeves clutching a plaster in his elbow crook. Blood tests is what happens in the laboratory.

It constantly amazes me what is learnt from an analysis of our blood. A few days after a blood test an email arrives with a cryptic comment from the doctor. ”All OK for your age”! This accompanied with a technical sheet with values for undecipherable symbols and the normal expected range for that condition. After a search on the Internet you learn what the symbols mean!

Technology is at the heart of our health system. You can login and check the status of medication and even renew it online. Messages from the doctor are there and expiry dates of current medication.

A trip to the chemists to pick up what the doctor has prescribed only needs you to show you ID foe the chemist to check what is available for you.

So much has changed but the doctor’s surgery remains that place you might fear most, perhaps after the dentist!