Soon in Uttar Pradesh: AYUSH students to learn Anatomy Using Cadavers

Lucknow: Introducing a major change in the curriculum of Ayurveda and Homeopathy Medical Courses, a committee in Uttar Pradesh has recommended that the medical students pursuing degrees in Ayush colleges are provided with opportunities to understand human anatomy with the help of cadavers.

With the approval from the State Government, these recommendations will be implemented in the State, and AYUSH students will be able to pursue human anatomy like their MBBS counterparts.

Uttar Pradesh has altogether nine government homeopathy colleges with an intake capacity of 828 students every year. Apart from these, there are also 58 government Ayurveda colleges in the State with an intake capacity for 502 students. However, a majority of these students lack cadavers in anatomy classes.

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Dr. Abhishek Shukla, secretary general association of international doctors explained the significance of cadavers for medical education and told Hindustan Times, “Dissection of a cadaver is the first exposure of the medical students to the human body. It helps students develop knowledge about human organs, their function, and position in the body.”

However, without a cadaver, the students have to understand the human body and the functions of the organs using models. Referring to this, a senior official in the Ayush Department told the daily, “These models have pre-defined openings and allow students to see artificial organs but the feel of nerves and organs is missing, which is the core of medical education.”

Therefore, with the State Cabinet approval for the change in the Anatomy Act, colleges will be able to make the required arrangements for obtaining a body and preserve it on campus. Following the approval, a dedicated space will be made for receiving and preserving the body. Such a space is not a mortuary but a space in the anatomy department having facilities such as temperature-controlled units. This change will allow the colleges to contact offices that conduct body donations. AYUSH colleges will be able to contact medical colleges receiving and keeping donated bodies or voluntary organisations for this purpose. 

While commenting on the matter, Dr Arvind K Verma, director of Homeopathy, Uttar Pradesh, and member of the committee that recommended changes told HT, “We have recommended necessary amendments in the Uttar Pradesh Anatomy Act of 1956 to facilitate Ayush colleges with dead bodies donated for medical studies.”

The state Government will approve these recommendations first and then implement them. “This will pave the way for students of homeopathy and ayurveda to study real organs. The use of cadavers will equip them with the right knowledge in the context of treating patients,” added Dr Verma.

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