Can virtual anatomy lab be an alternative of cadaver based anatomy lab?

Because of the high demand of allied health programs, many colleges and universities across the nation are offering the Human Anatomy course at the undergraduate and graduate levels. However, many of these institutions don't have dissection labs to give hands on gross anatomy. Also many institutions are reducing their lab spaces for the cadaver lab and trying to implement virtual anatomy lab. The question is, can the virtual lab be a substitute of cadaver based anatomy lab? Also, can the virtual lab enhance the anatomy learning? To overcome the ongoing shortage of gross anatomy labs, what measures can be considered by the administrations? Many schools are heavily dependent on plastic models, posters, cards etc. Sometimes students may even get confused by looking at textbook pictures as they are so far from reality. Therefore, when the students see the real structure they get puzzled. Another issue of current debate among the faculty members is to what extent clinical issues should be included in anatomy. Some research has shown that addition of clinical virtual video clip can enhance the learning of gross anatomy. However, this issue should be discussed further more before we come to a conclusion. This poster will provide insights on how anatomy teaching can be made more effective. The goal of this approach is to prepare the students in a more realistic way so that they can be more successful in their future career.