Applied anatomy is a required course for physical therapy majors, anyone who goes into a medical profession is required to take a cadaver class, she said. The students enrolled in the class are first required to skin the chest of the cadaver, then dissect the muscles and organs during the semester. The heads are also dissected during the course, but not until the end of the semester. They are kept covered at all other times as a sign of respect, she said. Simpson said that the students are expected to treat the bodies with respect and that there is no joking around or any unnecessary cutting during the course.
Medical schools use younger bodies while the older ones are sold to physical therapy programs.
The bodies used are embalmed in Formalin and phenol, which are chemicals that help to keep the bodies from rotting. The lab is always kept at a temperature ranging from 65-67 degrees. She said that all the bodies have been donated to science and are kept under a strict code of confidentiality. After the class is over the cadavers are used for the Bio 112 class where the students inspect the dissected bodies. They are then cremated and buried at sea.