From Sacrilege to Privilege: The Tale of Body Procurement for Anatomical Dissection in the United States

Abstract

Anatomical dissection remains an integral part of most medical schools’ curricula, and in order to meet their educationalneeds, schools turn to a mixture of donated and unclaimed bodies. However, the procurement of bodies foranatomical dissection has not always been a simple task. The history of the cadaver supply in the United States, asin many other countries, is a story of crime, punishment, and legal dilemmas. The method by which medical schoolsobtain cadavers has affected not only anatomists and medical students, but all members of society. Methods of procurementthrough the centuries have been able to change only along with concurrent changes in societal perceptionsof death and dissection. An appreciation of this history and these societal changes may benefit students in theirstruggles to come to terms with how their cadavers were obtained and how society has granted them the privilegeto dissect a fellow human’s body.