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The medical and scientific communities have historically relied on human cadavers to enhance their understanding of anatomy. Nearly every medical student visits the cadaver lab at least once. The hands-on experience has been shown, through multiple studies and papers, to expand a student’s clinical knowledge in ways that nothing else can. More recently, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, various educational institutions have leaned more toward the use of virtual anatomy simulations and training than they had in the past. Attempting to replicate a more realistic experience, some teaching institutions have used plastic models. We can see this in its most basic form in paramedic courses. While there is a place for newer technologies in the study of anatomy, physiology, and clinical or surgical techniques, we believe that they are complementary to cadaver training rather than a substitute for that experience. This holds true for first responders and experienced physicians and nurses as much as it does for med students.

What the cadaveric component of learning provides is a visual and tactile experience with real human anatomy. Professionals who participate in cadaver training are also exposed to the inherent variabilities that exist in human morphology. Equally important, cadaver training courses and labs take the conceptual experience of patient care and transform it into real-life, hands-on experience.
Dissection Skills Involve More than Anatomical Knowledge
A strong and often surprising emotional and psychological response is perhaps the most prevalent reaction to cadaver lab training. The emotional, and sometimes physical, response to the exposure to human cadavers is often what a medical student will talk about first or most as they recall their time in the lab. While some of these experiences are reported in a negative light, the […]

Dental implant training has become a more significant need in dentistry in recent years, as we have seen the rehabilitative and aesthetic benefits of this area of practice. Untrained dentists may offer dental implant treatment, but perform only the final aspect of care, seating the dental crown, bridge, or denture. We hear from an increasing number of dental professionals that they are ready to realize their dental implant potential and bring the totality of their implant services in-house. Proper training is critical to this end. Med Ed Labs has been proud to host live, hands-on cadaver training for dentists who aspire to expand not only their knowledge base but also their clinical capabilities. Now that our social-distancing issues have been addressed, we are seeing a return to in-person clinical trainings, and are excited to continue preparing and hosting live events in the area of dental implantology.

Dental implant courses equip dentists with experience via modalities such as lectures, live surgeries, and patient demonstrations. While technologies have expanded the capacity of dental professionals to virtually design smiles and create more predictable outcomes, there remains a vital role for real-life hands-on experiences that do not carry a high degree of patient risk in clinical training settings.  To manage these risks, standard one-day training sessions tend to involve hands-on exercises utilizing detailed resin or gum models that allow doctors to perform exercises in drilling, bone grafting, sinus lifts, suturing, and more. It is clear that hands-on practice builds confidence and provides professionals with the opportunity to develop and fine-tune their surgical techniques. Hands-on exercises can help to cement the knowledge gained from the lecture material but, relying only on resin models, they may fall short.

Dental implant courses can […]

The medical community has been well served by the study of human cadaver tissues for many years. As new technologies have emerged, however, so have ideas that “newer is better.” In some instances this may be true. When it comes to fully understanding the human body and the various ways in which human tissue may respond to treatments, we respectfully disagree. Med Ed Labs was established with the intent of bringing physicians, first responders, medical device developers, and other relevant personnel face to face with their target, the human body. 

They say that knowledge is power. For the appropriate professional, human cadaver training offers enlightenment in a multitude of areas. Our varied trainings and cadaver lab set-ups can achieve several objectives, such as:

Optimal placement of injectables or other techniques in actual human anatomy, not virtual simulation. 
Dimensional compatibility between human anatomy and new technologies. 
Accurate spatial relationships between a device and its accessories and anatomical structures

Cadaver Labs are High-Tech and High-Touch
Historically, cadaver labs were associated with medical training in the college environment. A stint in the cadaver lab was something medical students either really looked forward to or really did not. We see the value of cadaver training far beyond general anatomy and physiology teaching. Our learning environments are hands-on and focused on both general and specialized techniques and may include interventional supplies, surgical supplies, imaging equipment, and more. In this way, we can help improve development by removing the guesswork that has been typical to some medical training. For example, using a cadaver lab, a professional does not face:

Postural and anatomical differences between animal models and the human body. 
Inaccurate representations of physiological disease states as they occur in the human body […]

The novel coronavirus has placed strain on our medical system in ways we’ve never seen. But it hasn’t only been hospitals, urgent care clinics, and even how first-responders operate in the field that have experienced dramatic changes, our medical schools have also been affected. In some ways, due to the pause on in-person clinical training some med students faced, we could say these changes were unfortunate. Looking forward, however, medicine is now creating post-pandemic visions of health care that may have positive and lasting effects around the world. 

The adjustments that medical schools had to make beginning in early 2020 touched both ideology and clinical practice. Nearly every aspect of how medical students would learn was touched. Administrations, professors, and students themselves had to adjust on the fly. There was no warning, no instruction manual to follow, and a whole generation of doctors to train. What is interesting about this scenario is that it may offer some of the best opportunities to transform the system from the ground up. 

One of the most significant changes to occur during this time was the switch to online learning. The technical aspects of this transition were relatively easy. It’s the clinical aspect that can prove challenging. Regardless of the advances we’ve made in technology and simulation, a switch to online learning could diminish the hands-on portion of clinical medicine that is so necessary and integral to success for new doctors. Being an advancing field, medicine demands that doctors continue to progress in their awareness of human anatomy, which we still believe comes best through cadaver training. 

While some institutions have moved solely to virtual reality simulators and video libraries of old patient interviews and exams, these are poor substitutes for […]