West Virginia Human Whole-Body Donors in Undergraduate Biology Education at Radford University

Abstract

The use of human whole-body donors is the gold standard in anatomy education, and dissection is a standard pedagogical tool in gross anatomy courses in medical schools, physical therapy schools, and other health science graduate and professional training programs.  However, undergraduate students studying anatomy and physiology rarely have the opportunity to work with real human tissues.  The Biology Department at Radford University in Southwest Virginia is noteworthy for using whole-body donors from the West Virginia University Human Gifts Registry in all of its undergraduate anatomy and physiology courses.  Radford University also uses whole-body donors in non-Biology courses and in student research projects.  This report details the educational uses and impacts of WV whole-body donors at Radford University over the past seven years.