Spatial Relevance: Teaching History to Medical Students at a Medical Museum in Hong Kong.

This article analyzes the pedagogical role and challenges of a mandatory history of medicine workshop for first-year medical students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), conducted at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences (HKMMS). The workshop uses experiential learning through museum exhibits and a heritage trail to engage students with Hong Kong's medical history, focusing on the 1894 bubonic plague and the 2003 SARS epidemic, aiming to develop analytical skills related to historical contingency, disease causality, and multiple perspectives. While students generally find the spatial and narrative approach stimulating and relevant to their professional development, limitations include time constraints, a predominantly linear and clinician-led historiography, and difficulties in fostering deeper critical reflection due to curricular and cultural factors in East Asian medical education. The article highlights the need for ongoing curriculum adjustments, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and enhanced teaching infrastructure to better integrate medical humanities and historiographical thinking into medical training.