Three-Dimensional Textbook
“The purpose of the Deeded Body Program is to give the opportunity for people in North Dakota and the region to begin or to continue their teaching career after they’re gone,” says Edward Carlson, Ph.D. (Anatomy ’70), Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor and chair of anatomy and cell biology, Grand Forks. “These bodies are teachers.”
Teaching is the only role of these deeded bodies, he asserts. “We don’t do medical research on them; we don’t look at them as experiments or commodities, but as acting teachers – three-dimensional textbooks.”
“Because they are human, and have a human quality, they are far more effective than published texts or software. They are not fabricated (like manmade teaching devices); they have emotional, physical and spiritual ties. And every body is a little bit different.”
Anatomy textbooks, Carlson notes, “present the ‘typical’ (physical form) variation that occurs most frequently. By analyzing 15 to 20 bodies, students can see the normal range of variation. When you get out of that range, it becomes ‘sick.’
“You can’t get that from a textbook – the pictures always look the same; the textbook can’t show you everything... Students need to see the range of what is normal.”
In addition to medical students, those who benefit from learning from the deeded bodies include students in physical and occupational therapy, nursing, athletic training, psychology, forensic sciences and others.
On occasion, a surgeon may request time to come in to study dissection and practice a particular procedure to enhance their skills or prepare for a specific operation, Carlson notes.
The extreme care and concern afforded the donor and family has built the Deeded Body Program an excellent, widespread reputation that has endured over the past half-century or more.
“I really treat these donors like my own family,” says Denelle Kees, medical laboratory technician, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Grand Forks. “We treat them with respect, sensitivity and sympathy. They represent a great gift to teaching.”
-Pamela D. Knudson
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