Jay Mittal goes right to the source when he wants to learn about human anatomy.
Mittal is a premedical senior in the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Unlike premeds in the more popular biology and chemistry concentrations, Mittal has the opportunity to experience dissecting a human cadaver as an undergraduate.
“It’s a long tradition with our field to teach anatomy at the undergraduate level, whereas in biology, it’s assumed they’ll get the experience when they get to medical school,” said Chuck Larson, who teaches the department’s anatomy class.
The department uses cadavers as part of the anatomy course as well as for independent study opportunities. In the class, the throat and chest have been pre-dissected so students can better visualize the parts of the body that help people communicate orally, such as the larynx and the lungs. But students interested in doing their own dissection project can choose any area that has not been previously dissected.
There are typically two cadavers available to students at any given time, and they are replaced every year or two, Larson said.
“But the popularity of (dissection) is growing and I can see where we might have to buy (cadavers) every year,” Larson said.
Only students in the CSD department are allowed to enroll in the class or perform their own dissections.
The cadavers are expensive and the department doesn’t have the space or the funds to incorporate students from outside majors, Larson said.
“We think that this experience greatly augments the training (premed students) get in their classes in CAS,” Larson said, referring to their basic premed background courses.
Zainab Khan, a Communication senior, said the dissections have taught her valuable practical skills and helped her gain a greater appreciation for the medical field.
Larson said there are between 50 and 60 premed students in the department. Most of them know they want to be physicians, and some of them are interested in an area of medicine related to communications, he said.
Mittal said being a premed in the CSD program is “the school’s best-kept secret.”
“No one takes high school classes in CSD, so it’s not one of those majors people hear about,” he said.
Mittal is working on a dissection of the neck as part of his honors thesis and also is in the process of deciding which medical school to attend.
Khan is predental and is doing an independent dissection of the face. She said the idea of working on a human cadaver doesn’t bother her.
“I got really excited about it and it became a fascinating experience,” she said.
Reach Joanna Allerhand at [email protected].
