ETHICAL GUIDELINES OF CADAVERIC DISSECTIONS FOR STUDENTS
Dr. Sharadkumar Pralhad Sawant* and Dr. Shaheen Rizvi
ABSTRACT
It is an established fact that students learn Anatomy from the dead.
Cadaver dissection is present since the time of Vesalius,
where there was a physician-teacher performing dissection in
the theatre surrounded by the students. Dissection of the human
body has been globally considered a time honoured and an essential
part of medical training for both undergraduate and postgraduate
students as a part of learning human anatomy. It is designed to give
medical students, a three dimensional view of the interior of the body.
It is a known fact that a good medical or surgical practice can only be achieved, if the
foundation on which it is based, is strong. This firm foundation comes from from learning
human dissection. Thus dissection training has remained an important part of medical
curriculum. Anatomy teaching in medical colleges has been traditionally based around the
use of human cadaveric specimens, either taking the whole body specimens for complete
dissection or as prosected specimens. But are the ethics of a dissection hall
maintained by students and staff of Anatomy in medical colleges? This paper
deals with safety and ethical issues of cadaver dissection by medical students.
Keywords: Anatomy, Cadaver, Medical Students, Dissection, Medical Curriculum, Ethics.
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