ABOUT US
Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Anatomy Exhibition Hall
(Ankara Veterinary Anatomy Museum / AVAM)
In our Department of Anatomy, preparation activities of anatomical samples for education and exhibition purposes; It begins with the establishment of the Military Veterinary School in Istanbul in 1842. It continued with the establishment of the Department of Anatomy within the Higher Institute of Agriculture in Ankara in 1933. Over the past 180 years, hundreds of specimens have been accumulated in the field of veterinary anatomy by spending a lot of effort and time, but unfortunately, a large part of them has become unusable due to the lack of a facility to preserve and exhibit these works.
Department of Anatomy; It was decided to establish a resident “Veterinary Anatomy Exhibition Hall” in 2009 in order to re-prepare samples that have both historical and scientific importance and can be used for educational purposes, and to prevent the limited existing works from disappearing over time. Head of Department Prof.Dr. Merih HAZIROĞLU; Dr., who was our lecturer at the time, was responsible for planning the establishment of the exhibition, learning the necessary techniques, and then carrying out the project. Okan appointed EKİM. In order to learn modern techniques regarding the preparation and exhibition of anatomical works and to establish the infrastructure of our department, he went to various countries with advanced infrastructure in natural history and anatomy and worked in universities and museums in these countries, and increased his scientific skills in museology and anatomical preparation techniques.
Subsequently, a plastination laboratory was established at Ankara University, which enabled the “plastination technique”, which is a modern anatomical display technique and was introduced to the public with the “Body Worlds” exhibition that made a splash all over the world, for the first time in Ankara University. In addition, an “anatomical preparation unit”, which is used regularly by undergraduate and graduate students and produces unique works, has also been created. The anatomical samples produced in all these departments constitute the most important infrastructure for enriching the museum’s exhibition and educational inventory.
After approximately 4 years of preparation, training and installation activities, our museum was officially opened on June 10, 2013, on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Anatomy, and was presented to all our people. Today, Ankara Veterinary Anatomy Museum is simply “AVAM”; Associate Professor. It continues its services as an exhibition hall under the coordination of Okan EKİM.