19 November 2017

In Singapore, the number human bodies donated for science has increased over the years. This has allowed for the return of dissection classes in local universities.

At National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the dissection elective was reintroduced last year and 60 students took it. This year, some 120 students did.

This year so far, Yong Loo Lin’s anatomy department has received about 20 donated bodies, compared with six in 2012.

Besides donations, cadavers are also obtained when bodies are unclaimed — the school’s traditional source.

Cadavers are used for teaching for up to three years. The bodies are then cremated and the remains returned to the families whenever possible.

At Duke-NUS Medical School, radiological imaging and bones and plastinised models are also used for teaching purposes.

At the Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, plastinated bodies are used, along with an interactive table that displays 3D images of full-body anatomy and medical imaging.