Professora Em
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Professora Em has not written any posts yet.
Professora Em has not written any posts yet.
There is a great abundance of cadavers, nor shortage at all. The U.S. and India are the largest suppliers to the world's medical schools and research labs. The U.S. obtains cadavers from willed body programs as well as unclaimed bodies. The UCSF Willed Body Program will not allow their willed bodies to be used in any sort of program that does not ultimately benefit human anatomy education or research. I run the lab that Alok is referencing where we create prosections for teaching anatomy. Despite his casual remarks of wonder and curiosity, Alok has an extraordinary gift for focusing, working hard and accomplishing tasks. His work in my lab is extremely valuable, and he sometimes brings a friend or three which makes my work as a 75 year old anatomy professor so much better and easier. These cadavers are used by anatomy professors to teach anatomy and physiology to pre-med and other allied health students in both the undergraduate and also post-baccalaureate courses (UC Berkeley Ext. and Merritt College).
I run the lab (Anatomy, Biology Dept. at Merritt College) that Alok is referencing, and I run a very tight ship. We begin all sessions with an invocation to the generous people who have willed their bodies to make our work possible. The invocation also references the essential meaning of "community" (we work at Merritt College a community college). Positive and respectful regard mutually applied among a small group of people is Community. This is in counterpoint to negative regard and disrespect which brings about conflict. Our work is a product of a truly exquisite community of people. The work we do in my lab brings about pro-sections of four cadavers to... (read 365 more words →)
In my teaching career I have not come across "tourist attractions", but I've seen some things offered on the Internet for $3K or more that seem questionable to me. However, the lab where Alok worked was not a tourist attraction. He was among people preparing cadavers as prosections for college anatomy and physiology courses, not for a tourist attraction. The work requires focus diligence and the end product becomes part of the educational program for UC Berkeley Extension and Merritt College.