Overview
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
Category
Museums & Art Galleries
The John P. McGovern Health and Science Museum (The Health Museum) is an interactive science center and a member-institution of the Texas Medical Center. In 2017, The Health Museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum. Our 80,310 square foot facility houses 5,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space with over 300 medical and life science exhibit collections. The quality of the collections featured in our permanent and temporary exhibits is of the utmost importance to our museum. Permanent Exhibits remain our pride and joy of the museum and entail a large portion of the 300 medical and life science collections we currently have on display. In the Amazing Body Gallery, our first permanent exhibit, students embark on a voyage of discovery through the human body and explore science via interactive modules and kiosks, staffed Discovery Carts, and larger-than-life models of human organs. Our state-of-the-art, bilingual DeBakey Cell Lab allows patrons to conduct real experiments with authentic lab equipment and goes beyond standard science demonstrations. This cutting edge, 2,000 square-foot exhibit features eight unique lab stations that use video and audio prompts to encourage visitors to try a variety of chemicals, tests, assays and real-world scientific experiments to replicate medical and health science-related research or experiments conducted in the Texas Medical Center. The McGovern Theater is reserved for special viewings of educational films, hosting lectures, luncheon series, school field trip dissections, and consortium partner seminars. Traveling Exhibits in The Sue Trammell Whitfield Gallery offer ever-changing, dynamic content for The Health Museum, and in turn, bring health education alive in a way that traditional classroom study cannot. Drawing upon Texas Medical Center resources and expertise of our education staff, THM creates interactive programming that is fun and makes a lasting impact on young minds. Museums
