Cadavers give students hands-on experience
“Mortui vivos docent” is a Latin phrase, which translates to “the dead teach the living.” This inscription can be found in anatomy laboratories across the world, including USU’s lab. Professor Andy Anderson teaches human anatomy at USU and is a firm believer in these words.
“I feel very strongly about cadavers,” Anderson said. “If you’re going to teach human anatomy, you’ve got to have cadavers.”
Anderson, who has worked at USU for the past 29 years as a principal lecturer and pre-health adviser, said USU students have used cadavers for many decades to learn more about the human body, but the cadaver laboratory located in the Biology and Natural Resources Building was built about 15 years ago.
The cadavers that occupy the lab are donated through the Body Donor Program, which is run by the University of Utah’s department of neurobiology.
Individuals who are 18 years or older can fill out the proper paperwork giving permission for their body or their spouse’s body to be used to further education and research at various institutions in the Intermountain West, according to the University of Utah’s department of neurobiology website.
The site states that after a donor dies, arrangements are made for the body to be retrieved and embalmed. However, not all bodies can be accepted. A recent major surgery, traumatic accident, autopsy, obesity or other various circumstances may render the body useless for study.
Though the donated bodies only stay at USU for one year, according to the University of Utah’s Body Donor Program’s main website, donations can last anywhere from three months to two years.
“At the end of the year,” Anderson said, “I make sure that all the parts of the donated bodies are returned to their assigned body bag so that all of their remains can be taken to the crematorium in Salt Lake City.”
After the donated bodies are cremated, they are returned to their family. In case the family does not want the ashes returned, they are buried in a group grave owned by the University of Utah. The tombstone states: “In memory of those who have donated their bodies to advance medical education and science.”
Before Memorial Day, a non-denominational graveside service is held for the families and medical students, according to the site.
“The medical students thank the families and the families thank the medical students,” Anderson said. “The families are pleased that the donated cadavers can help in the education of a future generation of health professionals.”
Like many medical students, Michelle Peterson, a senior majoring in nutrition and a teaching assistant for Anderson’s anatomy class, said she has found a new appreciation.
“Not only have I gained an understanding of the human body,” Peterson said, “I’ve grown to have a greater respect for the people who donate their bodies to help students further their goals and futures. So many people see the cadaver lab as something gross or scary and it’s not. It’s something that is very, very selfless and giving.”
There are currently seven cadavers in the anatomy laboratory on campus. Anderson said many of the donated bodies now come with letters from the deceased.
“A fellow named Boyd wrote a letter to us prior to his death which stated, ‘Hello, my name is Boyd. I was an aircraft engineer who developed devices for airplanes to see in the dark. I hope you have a good time dissecting me and, above all, be of good cheer,'” Anderson said. “It’s a gift that they give to the next generation to do a better job. That’s what I want to do.”
Anderson has made the decision to donate his body to the Body Donor Program.
“My main reason is education,” Anderson said. “Since I am an educator in life, being used to educate another generation of students after my death is very attractive to me.”
About 500 students work in the cadaver lab every year, Anderson said. Students enrolled in the human dissection course held in the fall have the chance to expose the bodies that have been donated. Then, during the spring and summer semesters, those in the human anatomy class work with the same exposed bodies.
“At first I was a little nervous of actually dealing with real bodies,” said Katie Elmer, a sophomore majoring in exercise science who is currently in Anderson’s human anatomy course. “But I have realized that this is the best way to learn about the body. The first time when they showed us the cadaver I almost felt like I was going to pass out. I felt light-headed, so I sat down. I have gotten better. I will glove up and actually feel the muscles, veins and the different parts of the body.”
One of the risks some experience while working on the cadavers is fainting. Anderson said students are warned to tell their lab aides if they are feeling sick, but if a student does pass out he or she is laid flat on the floor until they feel better. He reassures his students it is a response that will go away with time.
“When people pass out, they’re very heavy,” Anderson said. “Even little girls have taken me down to the floor with them. Fortunately, no one has been seriously injured. When they feel embarrassed about this, I tell them I even fainted once myself while working in an emergency room many years ago.”
While in the lab, students are asked to refer to the bodies they are working on by their first names, as a sign of respect.
“At first it was really hard for me to go in there because I am such a baby with stuff like that,” said Abigail Lee, a junior majoring in exercise science who is also in Anderson’s human anatomy class. “But, I am very grateful for the individuals that donate their bodies to science. There is no other way I would be able to learn like I am if it weren’t for them. Learning on an animal is not the same at all.”
Anderson said students currently in professional medical schools working on real bodies who have experience doing so as undergraduates find the experience advantageous and educational.
However, the cadaver lab is not just for students. Anderson said 15,000 visitors from various high schools and healthcare groups such as first responders and emergency medical technicians come in every year to view or use the lab.
The Utah Trauma Conference will be held April 18 in Logan. EMTs, paramedics, nurses and pre-hospital personnel will use the USU cadaver lab to train and practice.
“The main reason we do this,” Anderson said. “Is so we can learn and practice on dead people. Then, these students who have been trained on dead people can do a better job with living people in their future careers.”
– kristi.j.l
ambert@aggiemail.usu.edu