Gross anatomy lab offers rare learning opportunity

By Anita Killins, PT, Ph.D., NCS, C/NDT

Since early 2013, the College of Allied Health has been working diligently to include interprofessional education and practice into all of our curricula to ensure our students are ready to enter to the
workplace as qualified and valuable members of a collaborative health care team. A natural starting point to encourage our students to learn and work together is with a topic that is integral to all of our disciplines: gross anatomy.

In 2013, the physical therapy program moved into a newly remodeled building with a brand-new, custom-made cadaver laboratory. This high-security laboratory currently holds eight cadavers in a room that has a state-of-the-art ventilation and cooling system and provides a well-lit, spacious environment conducive to team learning. The use of cadaver dissection has been an invaluable addition to each of our allied health programs. Examining and experiencing human anatomy in 3-D is critical to understanding relationships between structures and can help inform professional clinical decision-making in the clinic. The main dissectors in the laboratory are the physical therapy students, however, each allied health profession brings their unique knowledge and expertise to the table.

Throughout the semester, pharmacy, communication sciences and disorders, physician assistant, and athletic training students come through unit by unit to view the dissections and learn anatomy through visual review and hands-on learning. During the unit covering the thorax and abdomen, physician assistant students work with physical therapy students on
the dissections. Speech therapy students help dissect the brains and peer-teach physical therapy students as they are introduced to neuroanatomy.

Learning through dissection keeps our students very engaged and often, they can be found in lab outside of class hours reviewing structures. This unique lab setting has proven to be an excellent site for interactive learning and interprofessional collaboration.

—Anita Killins, PT, Ph.D., NCS, C/NDT