Cadever prosection??

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

gobeavers

Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
I was wondering if both LECOM-B and PCOM-GA use prosected cadavers. Also, what do some current students, or perspective students, feel are the benifits of having a prosected cadaver as opposed to disection.

Thank you so much 🙂
 
The students at LECOM-Erie seemed to really like the fact that they are prosected. They said it saves tons of time during lab, so you don't have to dig through all the layers of fat, etc. I've also heard that most med schools want to eventually transition to prosection.

In addition, if you really want to dissect, they pay students to do it during the summer for upcomming MS-Is. I think they said it pays pretty well too and is good review for boards.
 
Dr Trek 1 said:
The students at LECOM-Erie seemed to really like the fact that they are prosected. They said it saves tons of time during lab, so you don't have to dig through all the layers of fat, etc. I've also heard that most med schools want to eventually transition to prosection.

In addition, if you really want to dissect, they pay students to do it during the summer for upcomming MS-Is. I think they said it pays pretty well too and is good review for boards.
Thanks for the reply. I like the idea of prosected cadavers, I had prosected cadavers for my undergrad A&P class and I learned a ton!

Does anybody know if PCOM-GA uses prosected cadavers, or if they require disection?

Thanks!
 
gobeavers said:
I was wondering if both LECOM-B and PCOM-GA use prosected cadavers. Also, what do some current students, or perspective students, feel are the benifits of having a prosected cadaver as opposed to disection.

Thank you so much 🙂

I found this from a rather long article online (link below). It may be of interest to you:

"Bernard (1972) compared first-year medical students who learned anatomy from prosected demonstration cadavers with students who dissected cadavers. The participants were 154 medical school students in their freshman year divided into three groups. Students were ranked in terms of ability and were assigned to conditions to equalize ability between the groups. The experimental group used student-generated prosections. The two control groups did a traditional type of dissection using a standard dissection guide. The experimental group did essentially the same dissections except, that they used a different, specially written, guide. Within each group, eight medical students were assigned to each cadaver. All three groups took the same examinations. The results showed that the experimental group did as well as, and occasionally significantly better than, the control groups. As stated by the researchers, "the prosection demonstration technique saved time, but it is difficult to assess if the time saving was the result of the learning experience" (p. 725). No significant differences were observed in the mean scores of the three groups. This meant that the two groups learned equally from the two methods and one method was not better than the other. "

http://unr.edu/homepage/crowther/ejse/akpan.html
 
PCOM philly doesnt, so I am assuming Georgia cuts them too. I think there is value to actually cutting, but since I haven't done both I really cannot say. Besides anatomy is a hell you share with your classmates, and then never speak of again.
 
Im a bradenton student, so I can tell you about prosection.

LECOM B is different from most other schools in anatomy because of the prosection and the length of the class. While I felt it could have been a little longer(it's quite a bit shorter than other schools) I was a big fan of the prosection. Even though they're not cut by us, that doesn't mean we can't get our hands dirty. I was particularly fond of spending about half of the lab around the cadavers, plus there is always either a prof or a second year that actually did a lot of the cutting there to point out important structures or answer questions. I know there's advantages to both prosection and student dissection, but I was a big fan of not having to pick the fat. There was a lot

P.S. Don't think that just because the anatomy course is short that you're out of the woods before everyone else, in PBL you hit on Anatomy almost constantly when discussing cases. That's one of the reasons why it's not as long.
 
Here at GA-PCOM you will be doing the cutting for sure! You will do everything with your group from a laminectomy with a bone saw to cleaning out the stomach and bowels! I can tell you it is a bonding experience (with your group, not the cadaver) and is a worthwile learning tool. Some love it and some hate but I think it is a rite of passage in medical school. We do have some plastinated (sp?) specimens for exam purposes, but the majority of lab exams come from your work so it kind of forces you to do a good job.

BMW-


Tadgie said:
Im a bradenton student, so I can tell you about prosection.

LECOM B is different from most other schools in anatomy because of the prosection and the length of the class. While I felt it could have been a little longer(it's quite a bit shorter than other schools) I was a big fan of the prosection. Even though they're not cut by us, that doesn't mean we can't get our hands dirty. I was particularly fond of spending about half of the lab around the cadavers, plus there is always either a prof or a second year that actually did a lot of the cutting there to point out important structures or answer questions. I know there's advantages to both prosection and student dissection, but I was a big fan of not having to pick the fat. There was a lot

P.S. Don't think that just because the anatomy course is short that you're out of the woods before everyone else, in PBL you hit on Anatomy almost constantly when discussing cases. That's one of the reasons why it's not as long.
 
gobeavers said:
I was wondering if both LECOM-B and PCOM-GA use prosected cadavers. Also, what do some current students, or perspective students, feel are the benifits of having a prosected cadaver as opposed to disection.

Thank you so much 🙂

Having just prosected cadavers does not facilitate learning. I find that you learn much less anatomy in this fashion.

Our school has 2 prosected cadavers as models to look at while we do our dissections.

I think the use of both is the most beneficial.
 
I had my doubts about prosection versus Dissection when i went into LECOM,
and although the 12 weeks were hard hitting, i am glad it is over. I know some people who have to go into that stinky smelly lab for another 2-3 months (at other schools), and they aren't too pleased about it.

It may seem like you are getting gyped, believe me, your not really missing out on much. The only real way that you will get a "feel" for a real human body is if you assist on an actual surgical case, because the rubberized, atrophied cases that they have at LECOM, or at any med school really don't measure up.

hopes this helps
 
Yup, GA-PCOM has dissection. We do keep some plastinated thingies around for reference, but, as BMW mentioned, most of our learning comes through doing our own slicing and dicing. Also, we had a cadaver to student ratio of about 1:5, which is excellent, and the whole class is in the lab at the same time, instead half the class at a time as is done with schools that have larger class-sizes or limited lab space.
 
eldarion3141 said:
The only real way that you will get a "feel" for a real human body is if you assist on an actual surgical case, because the rubberized, atrophied cases that they have at LECOM, or at any med school really don't measure up.
I understand that surgical residents use cadavers, do dissections. Isn't it weird for them to find time away from their plentiful surgical cases for something that doesn't even "measure up" ??
 
Having participated in lots of cadaver dissections as well as studied from prosections, my humble opinion is in agreement with the study above: I really don't think it makes a lot of difference whether you use a prosected cadaver or cut yourself.

The main benefit I see to a cadaver, prosected or not, is that it gives a sense of the three dimensional aspect of anatomy that staring at a book all day doesn't. If a lab has lots of bodies, it is also interesting to see what the cause of death was and any prosthetics they might have.

Everyone learns differently and some very kinesthetic people learn best when they are doing something with their hands; for these folks the hands on aspect of a cadaver might be better. Personally, I won't be deciding which school to attend based on dissection vs. prosection - one aspect of one class during one year.
 
dissection is the biggest waste of time. I don't learn **** in lab and in fact, I know nothing up until 4 days before the practical.
 
But if you're going to be a surgeon, shouldn't you learn how to cut thru skin, fat, get the feel for things? The idea of having all that done for me before I get into the lab is unsettling - I feel like I would learn more if i knew how to cut
 
nvshelat said:
But if you're going to be a surgeon, shouldn't you learn how to cut thru skin, fat, get the feel for things? The idea of having all that done for me before I get into the lab is unsettling - I feel like I would learn more if i knew how to cut

I've never cut a "fresh" or live body, but it seems like it would be a far cry from the grey, bloodless tissue you will cut on in lab. It would be interesting to hear any opinions from folks who have done both cadaver dissection and surgery.
 
nvshelat said:
But if you're going to be a surgeon, shouldn't you learn how to cut thru skin, fat, get the feel for things? The idea of having all that done for me before I get into the lab is unsettling - I feel like I would learn more if i knew how to cut


No. Preserved tissue does not have nearly the same characteristics of living tissue.
 
bodymechanic said:
I've never cut a "fresh" or live body, but it seems like it would be a far cry from the grey, bloodless tissue you will cut on in lab. It would be interesting to hear any opinions from folks who have done both cadaver dissection and surgery.



While I havent done any surgery on humans, being as how Im an MS1, I have done a lot of large animal surgery which includes dogs and monkeys.

The tissue compositions between man and monkey are obviously veeeery smiliar. With that said, the cutting a freshly euthanized monkey is no where near the same as cutting a fixed cadaver.
 
Top