Cadaver Dissection is Obsolete in Medical Training! A Misinterpreted Notion.

Cadaver dissection is considered a tool for studying the structural details of the human body. Lately, conflicting opinions regarding the utility of this modality in medical training have been published in medical literature. This review of literature was done to examine the status of anatomy teaching with cadaver dissection in traditional, modern, and postgraduate medical training across the world. Literature published in the English language on topics related to cadaver dissection in the past three decades was scrutinized using different search engines. About 200 full texts were reviewed. This review describes how medical schools have continued to include cadaver dissection in anatomy teaching in traditional or modified forms. Medical schools that stopped or decreased cadaver dissection have learned from their experiences, and have restarted it in modified forms by integrating it vertically with medical training. Additionally, cadaver dissection activities have increased in post-graduate anatomy courses, surgery training, and voluntary/optional cadaver dissection programs. Cadaver dissection, integrated vertically, is still a part of medical training in modified ways. This overview may help curriculum designers to place cadaver dissection in medical curriculum and training in a justified manner.

Source: Medical Principles and Practice - March 13, 2018 Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research