Cadaver Lab, White Boards and Pedagogy: Uniting Teachers, Students and Anatomy

Human anatomy is not a prerequisite for admittance to medical school, thus matriculated students enter with a wide variety of anatomical backgrounds, many having no experience studying anatomy. Most medical gross anatomy courses take a regional approach to cadaveric dissection, which can leave students struggling to connect individual, regional structures to associated functional systems. Time constraints of rigorously scheduled, preclinical curricula leave little opportunity to create training sessions that address gaps in “big picture” knowledge. It is possible to address some of these issues by training instructors to incorporate brief anatomical stories and simple yet powerful illustrations that unite embryological, regional and systemic concepts while simultaneously highlighting elegant anatomical patterns of the body. Additionally, these novel stories and illustrations promote consistency in teaching approaches, especially when applied to impromptu “teachable moments” often encountered in laboratory settings. Illustrations that highlight the development and final form of ventral strap, subvertebral, four‐layer lateral wall, and epaxial musculature can be used to simplify trunk anatomy, including the neck where pharyngeal arch migration adds layers to a basic pattern. Moreover, the narrative can be further applied to connect and simplify patterns of innervation and vascularization. Grant Funding Source : Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy