ISU Bengal

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Nee Alistair D. The ISU laboratory where cadavers are worked on.

Many undergraduate students at ISU are learning hands-on what's inside the human body in their anatomy and physiology labs.
Prior to 1989, however, they had to make due with using pictures and dissecting animal proxies, such as cats or pigs, and relating the animal anatomy to human anatomy. Since then, cadavers have increasingly replaced traditional animal proxies in anatomy and physiology classes across the nation, including ISU. It was Dr. Rod Seeley, professor of biology at ISU, that found a source of human cadavers around 1989, and ISU made the switch.
Currently in all undergraduate anatomy and physiology classes at ISU students look at pre-dissected cadavers to learn and be tested on the muscles, nerves, and blood vessels of the body. This is supplemented with some animal dissections, including rats and frogs, to demonstrate other important concepts.
Seeley believes this combination of dissecting animals and viewing cadavers is ideal for teaching anatomy and physiology.
"There are advantages and disadvantages to both," Seeley said. "Students get more hands on experience in the dissection, but with cadavers students don't have to make the transition (from animal to human anatomy)."
Seeley believes that for this reason, looking at cadavers helps students feel like the lessons are more relevant to them. Therefore, Seeley believes that the two "supplement each other" and are both important.
Using both animals and cadavers may be a little more expensive, but Seeley says it doesn't add significant cost, and is worth the benefits. ISU's biology department saves money by using the same cadaver in many classes for many purposes over a period of 4 to 5 years. ISU usually has 10-15 cadavers on campus at any given time.
Brinton Robison, ISU Biochemistry student, said his experience with cadavers in anatomy and physiology labs was extremely valuable and worth any extra cost.
"For me, it doesn't matter how often you see something in a textbook, in real life it will always be different," Robison said. "In cadavers you see how things really are-nothing is ever perfect; no one ever has a perfect body. If a person has a certain disease or disorder or a certain surgery you can see it on the cadaver."
Robison also said that it helps him relate with the class. "Knowing it's an actual person adds a more human connection to it. If you're doing it for a medical reason, it helps prepare you." Robison said it is important because it "helps give a human aspect to what you're learning, and you want to make sure you've seen a dead body before you go to med school."

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