Studies in human anatomy began at Queen's when the Faculty of Medicine was established in 1854. The first professor was surgeon John Stewart, who also delivered Queen's first ever medical lecture on November 6, 1854.
For more than 100 years, the two basic divisions of the discipline were gross anatomy and surgical anatomy, which were studied through lectures and dissection (gross anatomy is basic anatomy used by people in all medical fields, whereas surgical anatomy is anatomy relevant to surgical procedures).
Since the 1950s, the department's work has expanded into the fields of Cell Biology, Histology (the study of organic tissues), Anthropology, and the Neurosciences.
Originally called the Department of Anatomy, it was renamed the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in 1993 to more accurately reflect its work.
On June 1, 2011 the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, along with Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology and Toxicology and Physiology amalgamated under a single academic known as Biomedical and Molecular Science...