MCh (Orth) Dundee Cadaveric Workshop

MCh (Orth) Dundee students spent two days at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) attending and participating in Thiel soft-embalmed cadaveric workshops on 13-14 April 2015. The Total Hip and Knee Workshop was presented by highly respected orthopaedic surgeon Mr Kamal Deep and used computer-aided Orthopilot navigation arthroplasty on the cadavers.

In 2011, the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) at the University of Dundee, under the leadership of Professor Sue Black, took the courageous step to stop embalming cadavers via the traditional formalin method and converted solely to the Thiel soft-embalmed approach; currently the only centre in UK to do so. The benefits of this approach are many and include:

• the tissues of the deceased remain flexible and life-like to the point of being suitable for insufflation, ventilation, laparoscopic investigation and joint replacement training

• the useable duration of the remains is excellent (over 3 years) and material can subsequently be plastinated for a permanent teaching resource

• its ability to repel bacterial, fungal and viral contamination is high which is important for safe working conditions

• the ability to be trained on flexible joints mimicking real-life-like articulation

Dr Pradyumna Raval (current MCh Orth candidate) stated: “The cadaveric workshop was really nice. For me, hip navigation was an entirely new and stimulating experience. This course is consistently fulfilling and I really will recommend it to orthopaedic surgeons I know. Personally I would like to say a thank-you to all those who agreed to donate the bodies of their loved ones for the advancement of surgical techniques.”

Professor Rami Abboud, MCh (Orth) Course Director and Head of Department of Orthopaedic & Trauma Surgery, added: “We have been successfully educating orthopaedic surgeons for more than 20 years now and to date we have over 350 graduates worldwide. We continue to offer the highest standard of visiting external lecturer and orthopaedic lecture topics to be found anywhere and on any other similarly titled course. Therefore the introduction in 2013 of the Thiel cadaveric workshops, unique to this course, is just one way in which we are continually striving to improve upon the course syllabus of this already successful world-renowned surgical degree.”

Please note that due to our strict adherence to Thiel copyright and legal agreement we are obviously restricted as to what imagery we can show in the public domain.