Cadaveric dissection- An integral part of first year MBBS anatomy teaching (students’ perspective)

Introduction: Cadaveric dissection has been the integral part of the first year anatomy teaching since long back. With advancing technologies in the medical field, many teaching aids have been provided to replace the dissection. Objective: To investigate and understand the perceptions of undergraduate medical students towards the cadaveric dissection and its psychological and emotional impacts. Material and Methods: Two sets of questionnaires were prepared. These questionnaires were circulated through 283 medical students and their responses were recorded. Observations and Results: It was observed in the study that 97.2% students were of opinion that cadaveric dissection is an integral part of first year anatomy teaching while 91.2% student believed that cadaveric dissection is preferable to other practical anatomy teaching aids. Conclusion: It concludes that cadaveric dissection is an important part of medical curriculum. Cadaveric dissection is also the best method for learning of anatomy. Though prosected specimens, plastic models, plastinated specimens etc. will be helpful in learning of anatomy, cadaveric dissection should be the basic part of anatomy learning. Keywords: Dissection, Cadaver, First year MBBS