Confronting the Cadaver

Janus Head ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Brent Dean Robbins ◽  

Through a cultural hermeneutic interpretation of the cadaver in the history of modern medicine, this study will argue that at least some medical interpretations of embodiment serve as a form of death denial. This analysis will draw on four major sources of evidence to support this contention: (a) the history of cadaver dissection in Western medicine, (b) diary entries by medical students taking a course in gross anatomy, (c) responses to a 2005 panel on cadaver dissection held at Daemen College, and (d) interviews with Guenther von Hagens, the creator of the “BodyWorlds” exhibit, which features plastinated corpses for the purpose of “edutainment.” In each of these cases, the data suggest that medical education works implicitly to manage death anxiety through a set of defenses which conceal the nothingness of death. Namely, by making death into a concrete event, preserved for example in the form of the cadaver or plastinated corpses, and by speaking rhetorically about death as a mechanical process, the medical model of death conceals the existential terror that comes with the lived experience of death as the termination of existence.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 312-321
Author(s):  
DJ Jordan ◽  
M Griffin ◽  
B Phillips ◽  
S Hindocha ◽  
A Elgawad

Anatomy has long been a topic of interest amongst both those in medicine and those not. The understanding of biology, in terms of the function and structure of the organs and other structures of the body, has dramatically changed over time, and has been closely related to both scientific improvement and religious feeling.There is no doubt that gross anatomy is one of the preclinical cornerstones of medical education, but the way in which it has been taught has changed over the years. As early as the 16thcentury, Vesalius stated that anatomy could only be taught by dissection, however, alternative options for cadaveric study are certainly more available now than when this statement was made.Current teaching methods incorporate the tried and tested cadaveric based dissection, but has more recently been super ceded by the use of computer based imaging and the change to self-orientated or problem based learning. The shift towards the latter has led to a perceived suffering to the gain of anatomical and pathological knowledge of new doctors and surgeons.This paper aims to describe the history of anatomy teaching and review the current evidence for and against the current methods used for its deliverance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-234
Author(s):  
Emily L Humphries ◽  
Felix Allen ◽  
Simon Grange ◽  
Andrew Goldberg ◽  
Peter Smitham

Eponymous orthopaedic examinations frequently appear in modern clinical examinations, yet their original description and cause for change are often omitted from medical education today. This is important to appreciate in order to understand their diagnostic relevance in modern medicine and subsequent interpretation of results by fellow clinicians. This article reviews the original description of these tests by their namesakes, how they have evolved over time and their relevance in orthopaedics today. An online literature review (PubMed) was conducted of the original descriptions and other published literature detailing their history, evolution, sensitivity and specificity. While elements of these tests have been lost naturally over time to the ‘Chinese Whispers’ effect, most have evolved positively secondary to a deepening anatomical and pathological understanding of their target conditions. They retain some usefulness in clinical medicine, however it is recognized that their diagnostic value is invariably supplanted by improvements in diagnostic imaging.


Author(s):  
Anju Partap Kaundal ◽  
Purushottam K. Kaundal

Background: Anatomy is widely acknowledged as being among the most significant element of medical education and the study of anatomy through the dissected cadaver is observed as the essential feature of medical courses. Anatomy teaching has certainly the longest history of any component of formalised medical education. While the history of dissection has been well studied, less attention has been paid to the use of the living body involved in anatomy teaching. Dissection has thus been imbibed into medical education such that it has become almost indispensable part of medical courses.Methods: A total of hundred newly admitted first year medical students’ reaction to the first day entry into the dissection hall and towards cadaveric dissection was assessed by using a set of questions. The questionnaire was given to the students just a few weeks after they began attending their dissection class.Results: Most of the students reported of bad odor of the cadaver (84%) and watering of eyes (79%) on their first day entry into the dissection hall. 94% of the students were determined, interested, and ready to study anatomy with cadaveric dissection. Majority of the students considered dissection as the best tool to study anatomy.100% of the students have showed a sense of gratitude to the people and/or the relatives who had donated their bodies.Conclusions: Cadaveric dissection is an indispensable teaching tool to study gross anatomy, and undergraduate curriculum should incorporate dissection as majority of the students are interested and determined to study anatomy with cadaveric dissection. 


Author(s):  
Carolyn James

Drawing extensively on unpublished archival sources, this book analyses the marriage of Isabella d’Este, one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance, and her less well-known husband, Francesco Gonzaga, ruler of the small northern Italian principality of Mantua (r. 1484–1519). It offers fresh insights into the nature of political marriages during the early modern period by investigating the forces which shaped the lives of an aristocratic couple who, within several years of their wedding, had to deal with the political challenges posed by the first conflicts of the Italian Wars (1494–1559) and, later, the scourge of the Great Pox. The study humanizes a relationship that was organized for entirely strategic reasons, but had to be inhabited emotionally if it was to produce the political and dynastic advantages that had inspired the match. The letter exchanges of Isabella and Francesco over twenty-nine years, as well as their correspondence with relatives and courtiers, show how their personal rapport evolved and how they cooperated in the governance of a princely state. Hitherto examined mainly from literary and religious perspectives and on the basis of legal evidence and prescriptive literature, early modern marriage emerges here in vivid detail, offering the reader access to aspects of the lived experience of an elite Renaissance spousal relationship. The book also contributes to our understanding of the history of emotions, of politics and military conflict, of childbirth, childhood, and family life, and of the history of disease and medicine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 237428952110102
Author(s):  
Susan A. Kirch ◽  
Moshe J. Sadofsky

Medical schooling, at least as structured in the United States and Canada, is commonly assembled intuitively or empirically to meet concrete goals. Despite a long history of scholarship in educational theory to address how people learn, this is rarely examined during medical curriculum design. We provide a historical perspective on educational theory–practice–philosophy and a tool to aid faculty in learning how to identify and use theory–practice–philosophy for the design of curriculum and instruction.


Surgery Today ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiaki Shichinohe ◽  
Eiji Kobayashi

AbstractThe framework for cadaver surgical training (CST) in Japan was established in 2012, based on the “Guidelines for Cadaver Dissection in Education and Research of Clinical Medicine” of the Japan Surgical Society (JSS) and the Japanese Association of Anatomists. Subsequently, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare allocated funding from its budget for CST. By 2019, CST was being practiced in 33 medical schools and universities. Currently, the CST Promotion Committee of the JSS reviews each CST report submitted by medical schools and universities and provides guidance based on professional autonomy. This paper outlines the history of CST in Japan and presents a plan for its future. To sustain and oversee CST implementation, an operating organization, funded by stakeholders, such as government agencies, academic societies, and private companies, is needed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152110109
Author(s):  
Marjorie Johnstone

This article examines how mental health social work practice can move outside the hegemony of the medical model using approaches that honor the centering of social justice. By using the philosophical analysis of epistemic injustice and the ethics of knowing, I move out of the traditional psychiatric and psychological conceptual frameworks and discuss new guiding principles for practice. In the context of the radical tradition in social work and the impetus to blend theory with practice, I consider the use of narrative and anti-oppressive approaches to center social justice principles in individual dyadic work as well as in wider systems family and community work and policy advocacy. I evaluate these approaches through the principles of epistemic justice and discuss the importance of a relational collaborative approach where honoring the client and exploring lived experience are central to both the concepts of testimonial justice, hermeneutic justice and anti-oppressive practice.


Author(s):  
Victor Ortiz ◽  
Rachael Cain ◽  
Scott W. Formica ◽  
Rebecca Bishop ◽  
Haner Hernández ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose of Review The field of problem gambling has been historically disconnected from the community experience of gambling and people of color, leading to a lack of integration of those with lived experience into programming. The aim of this article is to describe community-centered efforts to prevent and mitigate harm from problem gambling in Massachusetts—including a pilot program, the Massachusetts Ambassador Project, which is grounded within public health and lived experience frameworks. Recent Findings To engage Massachusetts communities in problem gambling prevention, planning processes were conducted to develop culturally appropriate prevention strategies. One of the recurrent themes was the desire of men in the substance misuse recovery community to share their knowledge with others, specifically, men of color who experience racism and health disparities. This finding informed the development of the Ambassador Project, a novel, peer-based, community-centered, and culturally responsive approach for men of color who have a history of substance misuse to engage other men of color in problem gambling prevention. Two organizations pilot tested the project and reached 4388 individuals. The pilot led to several findings in the design and implementation of related projects. Lessons are shared in three categories: structure, support, and implementation. Summary This article demonstrates an innovative approach to connect the field of problem gambling prevention to the community experience, using a public health and social justice lens. Others in the field should acknowledge the disconnect between problem gambling and the lived experience of those disproportionately impacted by creating opportunities for community voice to be at the center of programming.


AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842110063
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Brower ◽  
Tamara Bertrand Jones ◽  
Shouping Hu

Intersectional stigma is experienced by individuals who share both a minoritized identity and a socially stigmatized identity. This study examines not only both types of intersectional stigma (e.g., homelessness, addiction, history of incarceration) that exist among students but also how campus personnel have extended an ethic of care to assist these students in changing their self-perceptions or “looking glass selves” to persist and succeed in community college. Recommendations for institutional improvement include flexibility in hiring staff with the expertise of lived experience, extending social support, improving access to campus and community resources, and horizontal peer mentoring for students with stigmatized identities.


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