If you have always wanted to donate your body to science, now's your time to shine — Singapore's medical students are facing a shortage of cadavers.
In the realm of science, cadavers still remain the best choice to learn the anatomy — the best way to understand a human body is to handle it. According to Channel NewsAsia, there aren't enough of them to go around. As compared to the 28 cadavers received from the Health Sciences Authority in 2000, the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine only received six of them this year.
To maximize the already scarce resources, NUS only allows prosectors to dissect the cadavers to ensure the preservation of bodies in the best shape and structure in order for students to properly study the anatomy during practical sessions. After a period of three years, the body will be cremated and returned to the family.
Over in Nanyang Technological University's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, the institution has pioneered the use of plastinated bodies — real human bodies where water and fat have been replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that will not smell or decay.
Photo: Brook Ward via Flickr
If you have always wanted to donate your body to science, now's your time to shine — Singapore's medical students are facing a shortage of cadavers.
In the realm of science, cadavers still remain the best choice to learn the anatomy — the best way to understand a human body is to handle it. According to Channel NewsAsia, there aren't enough of them to go around. As compared to the 28 cadavers received from the Health Sciences Authority in 2000, the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine only received six of them this year.
To maximize the already scarce resources, NUS only allows prosectors to dissect the cadavers to ensure the preservation of bodies in the best shape and structure in order for students to properly study the anatomy during practical sessions. After a period of three years, the body will be cremated and returned to the family.
Over in Nanyang Technological University's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, the institution has pioneered the use of plastinated bodies — real human bodies where water and fat have been replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that will not smell or decay.
Photo: Brook Ward via Flickr