The days leading up to and following the end of the semester, the anatomy lab was alive. Students crowded the lab to prepare for final exams and the moment I entered, I was bombarded with questions from every direction. The next week, the lab was again abuzz as the instructors and I set up various stations throughout the lab. Then students packed the lab again, and I watched as they moved, in unison, to their next station every time the bell rang during the exam.

After final exams, the lab manager and his assistants, who worked to maintain the lab all semester, are tasked with a new feat: resetting the lab for the new classes next semester. I observed their carefully-devised method for moving the fully-dissected bodies into temporary storage and I helped to give the tables, floors, and sinks a thorough cleaning.

One evening, after everything had been cleaned but before the new bodies were moved in, I went into the lab to get something I had forgotten. During the semester, I spent 30+ hours a week working in the lab and I’d become used to having them there, like faithful companions, to learn from. In that empty anatomy lab, I had a glimpse of how empty our education would be without them.

***

The experience of learning anatomy through dissection has been possible for me and a countless number of students because of people that chose to selflessly give to others, even beyond their life. An old plaque that hangs above the doors entering our anatomy lab reads,

Mortui Vivos Docent

The Dead Teach The Living

Nothing could be truer. They are the ones that truly do the teaching. And I feel as though nothing that I say or do is enough to fully recognize them and their contribution. But I’ll start by using this platform to say thank you to the donors and their families. 

And as I reflect on and write about my experiences in learning, teaching and applying anatomy, the references that I make to cadavers and specimens are meant with the utmost respect and to promote the cause that they have given to: the advancement of healthcare professionals through hands-on education of the human body.

 

Sincerely, 

Dr. K

 

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Comment below:

Would you consider donating your body, after death, for a college to use in a dissection lab?