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By Admin | 2024-07-18

How do teaching hospitals obtain the cadavers used for training their students


This is one question a lot of people have asked me before, and I believe a lot of others are wondering the same thing here on this page.
Let's talk about it.
My first encounter with a cadaver in med school was that of a guy we called Tony I don't know who gave him that name or who named the other cadavers (because every cadaver had a name). Story for another day.
Tony was a well-built man of about 6ft. The body had just been brought to the lab with a hole on its neck... I'd later find out it was a bullet wound.
Every time we finished learning with a body, it'd be taken away and a new one brought in. Sometimes, we'd have two; a male and a female depending on what we were learning. It was cringy at first with every student wondering where these bodies were coming from, but no one dared to ask.
One day, a guy from my anatomy group summoned the courage to ask one of the anatomy lecturers where the bodies were gotten from, and that was the day our curiosity was satisfied.
He said the bodies were gotten from several sources such as:
1. Terrorists killed by the Nigerian army: it was the peak of Boko Haram insurgency then and bodies were surplus. He said these bodies were usually recovered and distributed to medical schools across the country based on their requests.
2. Killed armed robbers: the bodies of all armed robbers killed in active operations were recovered by law enforcement agents, and after their investigations were concluded, they'd donate the bodies to medical schools for use… the body we called Tony was one of such.
3. Unclaimed bodies in mortuaries: these bodies are usually those of accident victims or other violent encounters leading to their deaths. Depending on the capacity and rules of individual morgues, if a body is unclaimed for a period of time or the capacity of the morgue has been reached, the longest-staying bodies which have not been claimed will be donated to medical schools.
4. Voluntary body donation: although this is a thing in other parts of the world, I have never heard a case where a Nigerian, prior to their passing voluntarily donates their body to a medical school for research purposes.. And I believe you and I know why this is, abi????
You'll agree with me that, with the current level of insecurity in Nigeria and the daily toll of bandits being killed by security operatives, it is safe to say this is the major source of cadavers in teaching hospitals across the country.
I hope this settles your curiosity now?
Good morning and enjoy the rest of your day. ???


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