If you are part of medical field (medical students, anatomist, doctor, dentist, ...) which is the favorable method to study human anatomy on ....Real Human Cadavers, Plastinated Human Cadavers (new method that reserve human cadavers), Plastic Models, Anatomage (3D Medical Image), or any others method...
Sure Dear René Reinhardt ..but some colleges do not believe in plastination...need to review their opinion...it is very helpful...
Dr. Mohammed,
I too feel that Anatomy should be taught by using variety of learning materials available. It starts from books like atlases to plastic models, bones, plastinated, wet specimens and animation videos.
The choice of learning materials will vary from institution to institution.
In places where they have ample number of cadavers they may not think of plastinated specimens.
Whereas the institution where getting cadaver is not easy might think of getting plastinated specimen. In institution which are technologically advanced would think of getting Anatomage for their students.
The students who don't have cadaver for dissection in some institutions demand for cadaver for learning even if they have plastinated specimens.
There are different skills being developed as they use different learning aids.
I'm sharing my experience of teaching Antomy in India and Saudi Arabia.
The audience is important here when considering different methods to teach. surgeons require precise surface anatomy skills body painting is used as an an economic teaching method for retention of knowledge of surface anatomy. this is very useful method for musculoskeletal anatomy. most medical universities use a combination of all methods. Recently we had a discussion about this subject in anatomy dissection lab and our programme director said if it is the knowledge that matters then using plastic models or videos is as useful as any other methods.
As noted in this discussion, each anatomy teaching method/resource has its strengths and weaknesses for teaching/learning. Serious disadvantages of the dissection method are: 1) enormous amount of time spent "picking fat" and otherwise cleaning anatomical structures, 2) time spent by lab instructors overseeing this tedious task, 3) loss of delicate structures due to aggressive dissection techniques by inexperienced student dissectors, 4) loss of superficial structures and their relationships when dissecting deeper structures, and 5) limited availability and considerable cost of procuring and preserving/storing cadavers.
But, cadaver dissection also has important features: 1) realistic visualization of anatomic structures - especially their size and proximal relationships, 2) appreciation of the consistency of anatomic relationships while also demonstrating biological variation - via comparison across multiple cadaver specimens.
Prosections prepared by experienced dissectors with, and without, plastination offer solutions to some of the weaknesses of dissection, but this presents a substantial loss of compact 3-dimensional anatomical relationships.
Many years ago, we combined serial dissection and prosection approaches in our gross anatomy courses to reduce student and faculty time investments while capitalizing on the unique educational advantages of the dissection and prosection approaches. We published this work:
Henderson CNR, McMaster BA. A new method of teaching gross anatomy lab: Combining prosection and serial dissection. Journal of Chiropractic Education. 1995;8:131-40.
The concept of competency in teaching anatomy with cadavers revolves around ensuring students acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to understand the human body. Cadavers serve as first teachers because they offer a hands-on, three-dimensional learning experience that textbooks or digital simulations can’t fully replicate. By dissecting cadavers, students develop a deep understanding of anatomical structures, spatial relationships, and variations among individuals, essential for medical practice. Competency is achieved as students gain proficiency in identifying structures, understanding their functions, and applying this knowledge in clinical scenarios.
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