Promoting health through public programmes in university medical museums

Pathology museums worldwide are in danger. This paper explores the extent and the reasons for this threat to these valuable teaching resources - day by day becoming dormant collections. Should they now be classified as heritage material? What factors might contribute to their survival? How has their role changed? How effective and appropriate might they be as a resource in delivering public health programmes and how can this be achieved? How can meaning and interpretation of this type of material be conveyed to those undertaking community outreach? Shifting the focus of medical museums and creating accessibility to a broad audience may allow these museums to be promoted more widely as the educational treasures they are.Por todo o'mundo, os museus de patologia encontram-se em perigo. Este artigo discute as razôes e a dimensâo da ameaça destes preciosos recursos pedagógicos, que se vêem lentamente transformados em 'colecçôes adormecidas'. Tratar-se-â jâ de material meramente histórico e patrimonial? Que factores poderâo contribuir para a sua sobrevivência? De que modo se transformaram Q papel e a importância destas colecçôes para o ensino da medicina? Por outro lado, serâo estas colecçôes adequadas a programas educacionais de saûde pûblica destinados a urn publico geral? E de que forma? Nos museus de medicina, urna mudança de orientaçâo a par do aumento da acessibilidade as colecçôes a um publico cada vez mais, abrangente poderâo convencer os mais hésitantes de que continuam a ser tesouros educativos