Bengaluru: The Karnataka government will soon issue guidelines to medical students on showing appropriate behavior and respect towards bodies donated for studies and research. The move comes days after clips of medical students talking disrespectfully about cadavers went viral on social media, triggering a nationwide debate on ethics, professionalism, and respect for cadavers among medical students.
Ethics Committee to Meet
The ethics committee will meet next week to discuss how best to reiterate the existing guidelines on medical students’ conduct while handling cadavers. Calling body donation one of the noblest forms of donation, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil told TOI that although Karnataka has had no such cases, the government will still issue cadaver guidelines for students.
Importance of Cadaver Study
With anatomy forming the foundation for all clinical subjects, cadaver study is an integral part of the first-year MBBS curriculum. It helps medical students understand relationships of organs, nerves, muscles, and blood vessels before they go on to learn surgery, medicine, radiology, and other specialties. Karnataka has 72 medical colleges with 13,000 students.
Existing Practices and Concerns
According to the Karnataka Medical Council, students are taught to respect cadavers and recognize the noble act of body donation in the first year. “They are made to take oath on the first day of their anatomy class to reaffirm they will respect the bodies before they begin dissecting them,” said Dr YC Yogananda Reddy, president of KMC, which regulates the practice of modern medicine in the state.
Dr Balaji Pai, a senior neurosurgeon and former special officer of Trauma and Emergency Care Centre on the Victoria Hospital campus, said disrespecting cadavers has been going on for years. In the first year, students experience fear or disgust, and some even throw up. “As time passes, the pendulum swings in the opposite direction. We need to ensure it lands somewhere in the middle,” he added.
Expert Opinions
Dr Pai added, “Students, who enter medical school at age 17 or 18, should be made to understand that a cadaver is a textbook of knowledge. Their association with cadavers should not end in the first year. It should continue throughout their course and later too.”
Echoing similar views, Dr BN Gangadhar, former Nimhans director, said, “Our teachers had told us only cadavers can teach us even after death. The very fact that a person decided to donate body shows how graceful they were and how dedicated they were to science. Students should never resort to ridiculing the cadavers.”
Mumbai Student in Soup Over Cadaver Comment
Sejal Pawar, a student with KEM Hospital and Seth G S Medical College in Mumbai, faced backlash after a clip of her speaking disrespectfully about cadavers during a comedy show went viral. In the clip, she spoke about male cadavers and compared the sizes of their genitalia. The college has initiated an inquiry and placed her on leave. Sejal posted an apology video. Soon after, another clip of three medical students speaking about male students specifically dissecting female cadavers also surfaced online.
