Special Collections

The collections highlighted here are shelved together and segregated from the Main Collection, or they were formed/acquired from grant funds.

Office of Medical History and Archives

Collections include the Rare Book Room, History of Medicine and Health Care Collection, Women in Medicine Collection, UMass Chan Authors Collection, and archival manuscripts and records.

Humanities in Medicine (HIM) Collection

The Humanities in Medicine Collection, established June 27, 2002, is a collaborative effort of the Worcester Medical Library and the Lamar Soutter Library. Its purpose is to emphasize the human aspects of healthcare through broad reading from the world's literature. It also strives to promote reading about the history, sociology and ethics of medicine. This collection is overseen by the Humanities in Medicine Committee.

UMass Chan Theses and Dissertations

The Lamar Soutter Library holds a copy of most of the more than 1,000 masters theses and doctoral dissertations issued by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN). Electronic full-text, open access copies are available for most theses and dissertations through the eScholarship@UMassChan repository in the GSBS Dissertations and Theses and Graduate School of Nursing Dissertations collections.

The binding of print copies of theses and dissertations has been discontinued by both graduate schools. Print copies of pre-2017 GSBS dissertations and pre-2018 GSN dissertations are generally available in the library’s physical collection.

Graphic Medicine Collection

The Graphic Medicine Collection, established July 29th, 2016, strives to encourage more empathetic communication about healthcare between patients, physicians, and families. It is one of only a few such collections in any medical school across the country. The collection has been partially funded through a "Mapping the Landscape, Journeying Together" grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Research Institute.