From body snatchers to human plastination: Anatomy education through the ages - ONLINE BOOKING
Wed 14 May 2025 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM BST
Online
Description
Professor Lauren Fisher, Professor of Anatomy
Professorial Inaugural Lecture
Anatomy education dates back centuries to the ancient Greeks and ‘Herophilus’, the so-called ‘father of anatomy’ As scientists and doctors wanted to better understand the workings and structure of the human body in relation to illness during the 13th and early 14th centuries, anatomists found themselves battling against religious and legal consideration. Contrast this with the later resurgence of dissection in the form of public events, aimed at educating the general public and demystifying the process, and the current preoccupation with augmented and virtual reality, and we can see how the fascination with the human body extends far beyond the practice of medicine. This lecture explores the role of anatomy and dissection as a teaching tool and its evolution through the ages, from the challenges of cadaver procurement and ‘body snatching’ in the 18th and 19th centuries, when full body dissection was the primary way in which medical students learned about the body, to contemporary medical education which focusses on all scientific knowledge and understanding being ‘clinically relevant’ and the increased use of technologies. You can see and hear about how we provide ‘applied’ anatomy education, including the use of 3D virtual dissection and 3D printing, and the use of plastinated specimens and radiological imaging.