A Brief History of Medical School Cadavers

In the relatively early days of the medical profession, doctors weren't all that trusted and got little respect. That went double for medical students, who were condemned for cutting into dead bodies to study them. We've posted many times about how they got those bodies, from grave robbers, resurrectionists, and body snatchers who stole them from cemeteries. So how did that gruesome supply chain change into what we have now, which is voluntary bequests of earthly remains? The body supply business went through several difference stages as the medical business itself went from shady to crucial. Changing attitudes about death played a role, as well as the breakthrough in organ donation, allowing us to save or improve someone's else's life through own deaths. And as the article asks, would you want a surgeon carving on you who had never practiced with a real body before? Learn the history of medical school cadavers at The Conversation.