Back to the future: teaching anatomy by whole-body dissection

Objective: To evaluate the 2010 "Anatomy by whole body dissection" course, a 7-week elective course offered to senior medical students at the University of Sydney at the end of their third year. Design, setting and participants: In the 2010 course, 29 students divided into eight groups carried out whole-body dissections on eight cadavers over a 34-day period. Surgical trainees acted as demonstrators, and surgeons and anatomists as supervisors. The students were assessed by practical tests involving the identification of 20 tagged structures in four wet specimens before, during, at the end of, and 1 month after the course. In addition, students were asked to complete an anonymous feedback questionnaire about the course. Main outcome measure: Acquisition of topographical anatomical knowledge, and student feedback on the usefulness of the course. Results: A significant increase in topographical clinical anatomical knowledge was demonstrated among the participants and was maintained in the short term. The median pre-course assessment score was 8/20 (interquartile range [IQR], 4) and the median post-course assessment score was 19/20 (IQR, 1). This difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). All students rated the course as "very good", and unanimously recommended that the course be available to all students as part of the medical curriculum. Conclusion: Students' knowledge of anatomy improved significantly between the pre-course and post-course assessments, and all students rated the course very favourably. This supports our view that dissection anatomy should be an integral component of medical education. MJA 2010; 193: 668-671