Cadaveric anatomy in the future of medical education: What is the surgeons view?

Abstract

Reduced contact hours and access to cadaveric/prosection-based teaching in medical education has led to many doctors reporting inadequate anatomical knowledge of junior doctors. This trend poses significant risk, but perhaps most of all in surgery. Here the opinions of surgeons regarding current and future teaching practices in anatomy were surveyed. Eighty surgeons were invited to complete a questionnaire, 48 of which were returned for a 60% response rate. Respondents were asked to select the method they viewed as the best method of teaching anatomy. Sixty-five percent of respondents selected "cadaver/prosection demonstration" (P < 0.001), while 55% of respondents, thought it should be enhanced in anatomy education (P < 0.001). Finally, respondents were asked to select what form of imaging should be further explored in anatomical education. Seventy-five percent of respondents' selected computerized tomography (CT) imaging compared to other imaging modalities (P < 0.001). These data show that surgeons view cadaveric/prosection-based teaching as the most beneficial method of teaching anatomy and that it should be enhanced in medical education. Furthermore, surgeons suggested that CT should be further integrated into anatomical education. These findings support the continued use of cadaveric/prosection-based teaching, and will help inform the integration of radiology in the design and implementation of anatomy teaching in medical education.

Formaldehyde-related clinical symptoms reported by medical students during gross anatomy cadaver dissection

“…These technological solutions are effective and meet the required standard criteria of the FA concentration in acceptable levels of formaldehyde in our laboratory rooms. It is widely agreed that anatomy is a core knowledge for various medical specialists and other health care professionals [10,40]. Anatomy learned by cadaveric dissection has many proven benefits, i.e.…”

“…Due to technology development, the methods of teaching will undergo changes. The modern simulation technology allows one to perform virtual dissection and is being adopted by many of the world's medical schools [11,40]. However, 'traditional' cadaveric dissection remains one of the most efficient methods of teaching anatomy for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.…”

“…However, 'traditional' cadaveric dissection remains one of the most efficient methods of teaching anatomy for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Cadaveric-based teaching is of particular importance during surgical training for residents and specialists in general surgery, urology, cardiothoracic surgery and neurosurgery, as well as radiologists and pathologists [11,40,41].…”

Teaching anatomy in a modern medical course: an integrated approach at Vialba Medical School in Milan

“…2016). Many studies have proposed multimodal teaching modalities by integrating modern digitalized methods, problem based learning and dissection procedures, but it is still matter of debate which is the most effective way and/or model to teach anatomy (Biassuto 2006;Johnson 2012;Sheikh 2016). This task is complicated by the differences in sample, exploration method, course organization, cultural diversity and available facilities that make it difficult to compare the different models and their impact on learning (Lochner 2016;O'Reilly 2016).…”

Venezuelan surgeons view concerning teaching human anatomical dissection

“…Moreover, human anatomical dissection, incorporating the teaching of surface anatomy, represents a critical initial learning experience about the patient-physician relationship [10111213]. Human anatomy itself is very important to all health-care specialties and not only to surgical specialties [141516]. It is essential to teach the fundamental principles of human anatomy from the beginning of medical school thus to facilitate subsequent expansion on them over time.…”