Group Visits

Russell Museum, Mass General Hospital, and Bullfinch Building façades

The Russell Museum is pleased to offer both virtual and in-person group visits for groups of 10 or more. These programs can be scheduled with at least two weeks’ notice. To schedule, please fill out this form.

All of our programs are free. If your group enjoys its visit and your institution is in the position to give, we’d be grateful for your donation here.

In-person group visits to the Russell Museum and Ether Dome

The museum is available for visitors to explore at their own pace. Groups of 10 or more are required to make a reservation for in-person visits to the Russell Museum. We recommend 45 minutes for a group visit, which includes an introduction by a docent and time for self-guided exploration. We also offer 45-minute group tours of the Ether Dome. 

Group visits are available by appointment during our open weekday hours: 10 am to 2 pm Tuesday to Friday. We request at least two weeks’  notice to make a reservation. If your group is larger than 30 people for the museum or 20 people for the Ether Dome, they can be split into smaller groups to do the visit back-to-back. We recommend the museum and Ether Dome for 8th grade and up.  

To schedule, please fill out this form

Ask Mass General: Health Careers Q&A (virtual or in-person)

The one-hour Ask Mass General: Health Careers Q&A program for sixth grade through college gives students a chance to ask the panelists about health careers. Panelists may be from any field of health care – patient care, research and health-care-specific administrative roles. We aim to have two to three panelists with different job roles at each program.  

More details:  

  • The program is driven by students’ questions. Each panelist will briefly introduce themselves and what they do, and the rest of the time will be answering questions.
  • In virtual programs, the panelists and a museum staff member will each be on a separate computer in a web meeting. Students will be encouraged to turn on their microphones to ask questions, but are welcome to ask via chat if they prefer.
  • The program is designed for career exploration, and it is not a time to ask for health advice or networking opportunities.

Virtual field trips 

This 45-minute virtual program for eighth grade through adults includes information on Mass General history, the ether anesthesia story, some history of Mass General’s responses to other crises in the past, and information on Mass General’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. A staff member presents using photos and polls in a video meeting.  

More details: 

  • The program is designed to be 45 minutes with time for discussion built in, but if you would like more time for discussion, it can also be scheduled for 60 minutes.
  • The bulk of the presentation will involve a Russell Museum staff member presenting with a slide deck of images in screen-share mode. We will ask that students turn off their microphones except when speaking. 
  • Although students will be welcome to ask questions during the presentation, the last portion of the virtual field trip will be devoted to questions, and students asking questions will be encouraged to turn on their microphone, although they are welcome to ask via chat if they prefer.

About virtual programs at the Russell Museum 

The museum offers free virtual programs for educational and community groups of 10 people or more. They can be scheduled any time between 9 and 5 pm on weekdays, subject to staff availability, with at least two weeks’ notice. 

  • By default, we will do the presentation in Zoom, and we will send you a link and password beforehand to distribute to your students / group members so that everyone can access it. The Zoom meeting will be password-protected so that only your group members (and guests you invite, if applicable) can participate.
  • If your school or program uses another platform and you would prefer that we use that, please let us know during the scheduling process, and we will very likely be able to do so. Also, if you have a standing online meeting and you would prefer that our staff member joins that meeting rather than sending a separate link, let us know; this will work as long as the staff member is granted permission to share their screen.
  • You’re welcome to schedule both types of program, on the same day or different days; their content overlaps very little.
  • If anyone in your group has accessibility needs not covered here that we should know about, please let us know. 

To schedule, please fill out this form.

Other programs

Medical simulation programs are currently available to groups on a limited basis. Please email mghhistory@partners.org for more information.

Hospital walking tours are currently unavailable. We hope to offer them again as soon as we are able. 

If you are interested in seeing more hospital history up close, we recommend our immersive, 3D virtual tour of the Bulfinch building. Unlike the programs described above, this is a web feature rather than a live program. This behind-the-scenes view shares details from the building’s extraordinary past, including the Ether Dome and lesser-known stories, and the hospital’s exciting present. Click here to explore. 

For virtual public programs and other announcements,  visit the museum’s Facebook or Eventbrite pages, or join the mailing list by subscribing here or emailing mghhistory@partners.org.