Queasy medical students get dissection breather

Updated on: Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Dr Anil Dhudhbhate, who works in KEM Hospital’s ophthalmology department, shudders at the memories of his first days as an MBBS student. “Preparing to dissect my first human body was a huge challenge,” he recalls.

“I kept stalling the procedure for several days. When I finally did it, the stench of the chemicals in which the bodies are preserved remained with me for days,” he says, narrating how he lost sleep, appetite and peace of mind after that. “The stench was in everything I ate, the body appeared in my dreams and I regretted taking up this profession.”

Dhudhbhate’s struggle with dissection is not unique. Almost all medical students have similar stories to share and senior doctors have to counsel them to help them through the trauma of slicing through a human body for the very first time.

Responding to persistent reports of students falling ill after their first dissection, and requests of medical colleges deans, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has issued a set of new guidelines for first year MBBS students that will ensure that the greenhorns do not have to work on cadavers on day one. Rather, for the first two months they can watch as senior doctors perform the dissection, gradually easing them into the procedure.

The initiation process, called the Foundation Course, is being headed Dr Pritha Bhuiyan, Head of the Anatomy Department, who believes the course is important for young students who find it difficult to adjust to the new subjects and surroundings.

She said, “First year MBBS students are mere 17 or 18 year olds and mostly from other cities and villages across the country. Besides, in the first year itself they have to tackle three tough subjects - anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. The most challenging one of course is anatomy, which involves dissecting bodies.”

Yuvraj Bhosale, associate professor, anatomy department, KEM Hospital, said that pushing the students into dissection right at outset was necessitated by the six-month course deadline.

“Students are not mature enough to handle the stress of dissection and I have had several instances of them falling unconscious, running away and even having second thoughts about taking up this profession. It is especially challenging for women,” he said.

To circumvent this problem, the course will first begin with communication and theory classes, priming the students for the more serious aspect of anatomy. “We need to teach the students that they should respect the body they are about to dissect and not be scared or put off by it,” added Bhuiyan. The students will also be sensitised to the fact that it is because of generous donors that have the opportunity to practise and improve their skills as future doctors.

The KEM Hospital will be the nodal centre for the Foundation Course and a team of 10 doctors will train doctors at 10 medical colleges across the state before colleges across the country take up the programme.

The medical fraternity has welcomed MCI’s move. Dr Ravikant Singh, resident doctor, KEM hospital, who recoils with horror at the mention of his first dissection, said, “At the first sight first of the cadaver I ran away from the college. It took me two weeks to adjust in the anatomy department. I think the foundation course will help students to adjust to a new place.”

Queasy medical students get dissection breather

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