There weren't any cadavers, let alone a dissecting room, when the first students arrived at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth and Exeter, UK, this fall. The brand-new school had become the first in the UK to teach anatomy without using cadavers.
School spokesperson Dr. John McLachlan, who says modern medical imaging techniques have made the change possible, thinks students will benefit. “The dissecting room can be a traumatic experience for first-year students, and perhaps it is not the best introduction to the whole issue of death and dying.”
Anatomy will be taught using a combination of techniques, supported by models and 3-dimensional images and reconstructions. McLachlan thinks students will adapt easily because of their exposure to technology. At a more advanced stage, although probably not in the first year, the university will employ sophisticated simulations that will allow students to employ methods similar to those used to train airline pilots.
McLachlan disagrees with critics who maintain that dissection is a necessary part of medical training. “A cadaver does not bear much resemblance to a living body. To the uninitiated, it would be difficult to distinguish between a nerve fibre and a blood vessel.” As well, he says chemicals used to preserve cadavers, when combined with post-mortem changes, make the consistency of the tissue and organs quite different from that encountered in live patients.
The General Medical Council (GMC), which is responsible for setting standards for undergraduate education, says its main concern involves outcomes, not the teaching process. However, GMC personnel will visit Peninsula to ensure that standards are maintained.
Peninsula is 1 of 2 new schools to open in the UK this year. They are part of a plan to increase intake by 1100 medical students a year by 2005. — Cathel Kerr, Fife, Scotland