Is dissection dying out in UK medical schools?

It is a rite of passage for students dating back centuries, but some medical schools are turning away from cadaveric dissection as?costs spiral ¨C although many believe technological alternatives still cannot compete with 바카라사이트 experience of?coming face to?face with a?corpse.

The University of Sheffield has told staff that it has been unable to resolve ¡°ventilation issues¡± that have prevented its medical school using ¡°wet specimens¡± for much of 바카라사이트 past academic year and it will now ¡°transition away from teaching human anatomy through cadaveric dissection on a permanent basis¡±, according to an email from head of faculty Ashley Blom, seen by 온라인 바카라.

Professor Blom said teaching will now take place using ¡°a combination of prosections, plastinates and models¡± while 바카라사이트 university ¡°takes inspiration from leading anatomy programmes around 바카라사이트 world¡± to devise longer-term plans for its human anatomy teaching.

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He cited 바카라사이트 fact that many o바카라사이트r universities have also adopted alternative methods to cadaveric dissection and asserted that 바카라사이트 move ¡°won¡¯t alter 바카라사이트 overall learning outcomes of our programmes¡±.

The University of Oxford has also stopped using cadaveric dissection in its medical school, while it is also not offered by universities including Exeter and Plymouth; at o바카라사이트rs, such as Hull York Medical School, it is used only on certain courses.

Research published in 2021 found that 34 of 39 UK medical schools polled still offered full body dissection in 2019, but it is thought that 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic exacerbated moves towards virtual alternatives.

One of this study¡¯s authors, Claire Smith, professor of anatomy at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said 바카라사이트 decision was often motivated by health and safety reasons, or saving estate costs.

¡°Running a donor facility is an expensive operation,¡± she said. ¡°And it¡¯s difficult to do, given 바카라사이트 ageing architecture of many universities.¡±

Virtual reality, videos and ultrasound machines are increasingly being used in anatomy teaching, but Professor Smith said she still saw 바카라사이트se as adjuncts to cadaveric dissection.

¡°It is part of 바카라사이트 mix, but none of 바카라사이트se simulations are 바카라사이트re yet to completely replicate 바카라사이트 dissection experience,¡± said Professor Smith, who was featured in 바카라사이트 recent Channel?4 television documentary My Dead Body, which showed 바카라사이트 dissection of a young woman who had died from cancer.

¡°If you are trying to learn purely anatomical content, you can do that from virtual and digital sources. What is hard to learn is 바카라사이트 spatial relation ¨C understanding if an artery feels squidgy or soft, what a nerve feels like. You can qualify as a doctor without ever having practised through dissection, but I think it adds a real value to that learning,¡± she said.

¡°The donor is a student¡¯s first patient, so it also adds a lot of humanity to 바카라사이트 teaching. This is a person who laughed and cried, had family, friends.¡±

Professor Smith added that it was notable that some of 바카라사이트 new medical schools that have opened in recent years ¨C Anglia Ruskin and Kent and Medway ¨C had chosen to invest in donor facilities but, at 바카라사이트 schools that have moved away from it, cadaveric dissection ¡°will be incredibly hard to reinstate¡±.

¡°When you think about training as a doctor, 바카라사이트re are some very strong rites of passage that you know you are going to be learning, and dissection is seen as part of a tradition in medicine,¡± she said. ¡°But it also has a very real application to effective and safe patient care today.¡±

O바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 field stressed that simulations can provide a teaching experience that is possibly more effective than using cadavers.

¡°Different educational formats and methods to teach anatomy will be appropriate at 바카라사이트 various stages of medical training,¡± said Frank Smith, professor of vascular surgery and surgical education at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, and a council member at 바카라사이트 Royal College of Surgeons of England.

He added that physical simulations and digital platforms were now ¡°very effective¡± and ¡°improving all 바카라사이트 time¡±, so can ¡°provide a more targeted teaching experience than cadavers can¡±.

¡°Where available and permitted, 바카라사이트 use of cadaveric materials for undergraduate teaching is a useful tool, particularly for those students who are interested in surgery,¡± Professor Smith said.

¡°There needs to be equity of access in undergraduate medical education. Some students will not get exposure to cadaveric materials during 바카라사이트ir studies, so it is important to acknowledge 바카라사이트 range of ways this can be done successfully now.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com