| Anatomy, the structure of the human body is the important basic subject for medical students, both Undergraduate and postgraduate. It is one of the most important courses in the education of physicians, dentists and other health professionals like nurses and physical therapists. In all these fields the study of Anatomy comes first in the curriculum and serves as the foundation for other courses. In addition to this, cadavers are also used by students pursuing their postgraduation in Anatomy, and by research physicians for the development of new surgical procedures. These include arthroscopic surgeries for knee, ankle and shoulder, plastic surgery procedures like flap reconstruction for burn victims and surgical procedures for various internal organs .The best method of learning Anatomy is by dissecting human cadavers. This is the principle teaching tool. With mushrooming of medical institutions in the country, the number of doctors graduating every year is increasing and therefore, number of cadavers received for their training is insufficient. Unclaimed bodies are no more the origin of cadavers. Hence whole Body donation is the need of the hour. A Voluntary Body Donation is defined as “The act of giving one?s Body after death for Medical research and education”. A survey was carried out among K.J.Somaiya Medical College staff members others during the year of 2014. Voluntary body donation including organ donation and various factors such as age, religion, culture and donor?s attitude were discussed. Body donation provides the students and medical researchers with unparalleled opportunities to study the human body. The old adage “ Practice makes a man perfect” is apropos to medical education. The more a doctor practises on a cadaver, the more perfect his surgical skills will be. Computers or books cannot totally replace dissection in learning anatomy.ddd |
