Before applying to medical school, I heard “rumors” that Baylor College of Medicine students use prosections rather than actually dissecting cadavers on their own. Fortunately, I was right to be skeptical of such a claim. Just recently, a friend of mine who is currently applying heard this same rumor from a UT Houston student. People need to get their facts straight.
At BCM, we do indeed use prosections as a supplement to our anatomy lab; however, the primary focus is on dissecting! There are roughly five students to each cadaver tank, and our labs are conducted every Tuesday from 10:00 AM to noon.
As for our histology labs, yes, we don’t go through the trouble of taking out microscopes, wiping them down, placing slides on the stage, and adjusting the lense(s). Instead, we have a digital slide box where we can view slides in extremely high detail on our computers. If you ask me, this is a far more effective method to study histology – focusing more on the slides rather than the set up. 🙂
