Inside Duke Medicine

Anatomy, tissue labs mark more milestones

The latest in a series of significant milestones converging to further the School of Medicine’s educational mission occurred in August with the grand opening of the new gross anatomy lab and its adjoining high-tech fresh tissue lab and teaching auditorium.

All reflect Duke’s renewed commitment to merging traditional, hands-on cadaveric study with the latest information access that computer technology can offer. From anatomy atlases to 3-D images of the human body, everything is at the fingertips of faculty and fellows, and ready to go for this year’s entering class of medical students. The impact on attracting future medical students is clear.

“These are valuable assets a lot of leading medical schools don’t have,” Monte Brown, M.D., Duke University Health System vice president for administration, said of the new labs. “When people walk in they just say ‘wow.’ You can bet this will now be on the tour for all trainees considering Duke School of Medicine. Combining traditional techniques with the most up-to-date technologies puts Duke in the forefront.”

“Today, anatomical medical education combines the ideals of the profession - the acquisition of scientific knowledge and skill balanced with the development of humanistic attitudes and behaviors,” said Edward Buckley, M.D., interim dean for education.

While development of sophisticated computerized learning aids have effectively reduced the amount of time spent on dissection, Buckley said, the physical procedure fosters a spatial and tactile appreciation for the fabric of the human body that cannot be achieved by prosections or computerized learning aids alone.

“So whether it is our initiation to the profession as physicians or the scientific method or the use of effective responses, the anatomy lab is as much as part of how we see as what we know,” he said.

Scott Levin, M.D., division chief of plastic, reconstructive and oral surgery, was instrumental in planning the gross anatomy and tissue labs. The expanded space was planned to accommodate undergraduate and graduate medical education as well as the growth plans in the physical therapy, physician assistant and continuing medical education programs.

Now conveniently housed near the other School of Medicine classrooms in a well-lighted and -ventilated facility in the basement of the Green Zone, the new facilities and equipment are a far cry from the former aging gross anatomy lab in the basement of the Bell Building, which eventually will be removed to make way for the expansion of Duke University Hospital.

The new labs and auditorium are another step in the modernization of the School of Medicine educational facilities, which started with the relocation and expansion of the physical therapy program in Erwin Square.

The new labs and auditorium open new horizons and expanded opportunities in medical training, CME and creative collaborations with outside partners. The 70-seat auditorium is fully integrated with the labs video monitoring system and offers worldwide video conferencing capability for uses beyond gross anatomy.

Planning is now under way for a new educational building that will be synergistic with the new labs that were funded jointly by the Duke University Health System and School of Medicine.