Anatomical Theatre Research Articles

Anatomical theater or full digitization? Students' assessment and preferences in the field of anatomy teaching.

For many years, teaching of anatomy has been based on traditional forms of teaching, but innovative solutions are currently being implemented on a large scale around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning have influenced the development of new technologies in teaching. The study was conducted among medical students who studied anatomy in the year preceding the analysis when the restrictions related to the pandemic had been lifted. The questionnaire contained 10 questions with YES/NO answers and a modified 10-point Likert scale. The data was subjected to statistical analysis performed in R studio using the R programming language. 650 respondents were included in the analysis. Students assessed the modernization of anatomy departments to be unsatisfactory - on a 10-point scale, the most common answer was 2 - the average was 2.69. At the same time, they assessed the accessibility of knowledge as acceptable - median 6, with an average of 5.58. 75.38% of respondents did not use virtual reality technology, 75.69% did not use a 3D printing. 92.5% did not work with a virtual anatomical table. The vast majority of students claim that new technologies will be useful in their future clinical practice. New technologies are still rarely used in the teaching of anatomy, despite an increasing availability of such solutions and the conviction of students about the validity of implementing innovations in their future clinical practice. It seems reasonable to enable cooperation between the traditional forms of learning and the modern ones.

From Anatomical Theatres to the Stage: Ferdinand and Dissection in the Duchess of Malfi

Unlike our 21st-century approaches to the disciplines, science and art were inextricably intertwined during the Early Modern Period. Innovations in scientific knowledge were both propagated and critiqued through various literary forms. Operating within the intersection of science and literature, this essay examines John Webster’s 17th-century play, The Duchess of Malfi, as a vehicle for critiquing contemporary anatomical dissections. Building upon Daisy Murray’s Twins in Early Modern English Drama and Shakespeare, and Albert H. Tricomi’s “The Severed Hand in Webster’s Duchess of Malfi,” this essay highlights the ways in which Webster engages with the anatomical dissections of his time. “From Anatomical Theatres to the Stage” begins with an overview of the history of European anatomical theatres and moves into an analysis of twinship as a dissection at birth and its implications for the early modern reader. Then, it considers Ferdinand’s association to witchcraft and his embodiment of the early modern surgeon as a means to showcase the immoral nature of the performance of human dissection. Beyond its demonstration of Webster’s engagement with his contemporary science, this essay ultimately illustrates the inseparability of art and science.

The Nature and Purpose of Public Dissections in Early Modern London.

Modern scholarship on the early modern European anatomy theater has long argued that public dissections were theatrical, carnivalesque affairs characterized by viewers' fascination with the material exposure of the dissected body. This essay builds from the recent work on early modern public dissections to argue against such monolithic presentations of the early modern anatomy. To this end, the essay examines three principal source materials connected with public dissections in early modern London to more specifically argue that public dissections in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century London were solemn events focused on promoting the status of London's barber-surgeons' guild, the Royal College of Physicians, and the education and knowledge of their respective members. In this regard, the essay further suggests that there was no single, dominant perception of dissection and anatomy at the time, but that dissection was utilized as a tool for different individual, occupational, and institutional purposes.

Development of the anatomy theaters in the Netherlands during the 1600s and contributions of some important names

Creating a common historical perspective on anatomy is necessary for humanity to complete its mental and philosophical development. Since the 1600s, the Netherlands has made great contributions to the historical development of the science of anatomy. In addition to the medical conditions encountered in daily life, the science of surgery, which developed thanks to the wars, has glorified the science of anatomy over time. In the 1600s, anatomy theaters in the Netherlands were established under the leadership of surgeons and supported by the administrators. The scientific environment they created made the Netherlands one of the important medical education centers in Europe, like Italy and France. This success can be explained by the fact that the Dutch people placed scientific methods in the new universities they established in parallel with the economic, political, cultural and mental development of the Dutch people. Thus the Netherlands of the 1600s almost created a historical step between today's and medieval faculties. This period of the Netherlands, which, with its progressive climate, created science and art producers who have shaped the world's anatomy and medical education today, should be remembered with its important names and contributions.

Anatomical Themes and their Role in B. Pasternak' Works and his Philosophical Conception

The subject of the study in the article are anatomical themes in the works of B. Pasternak, which have a deep symbolic meaning. The scene in the anatomical theater from the novel «Doctor Zhivago» has its roots in his biography, lyrics, early prose, journalism. This preparatory work provided a broad context for understanding the topic of anatomy and the motive for dissecting drowned women in the context of a philosophical understanding of art, life and human existence, their independence and unity. The formation of the method of «anatomical» world description was influenced by the teachings of Aristotle, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. The «anatomical» approach assumes that every minute detail of the landscape, every movement of the soul, every image of art show the beauty of the whole. But to comprehend the phenomenon as a whole, you need to see the beauty of the detail. This worldview is expressed not only on the thematic level through the use of anatomical themes, but also on the figurative and motivational when describing landscape and mental-emotional states. This stylistic feature of Pasternak's work can be called a method of poetic anatomization of the phenomena of life.

Rudolf Richard Buchheim, the founder of pharmacology.

Today, the University of Tartu (earlier Dorpat) belongs among the 250 best universities of the world. Its international team of pharmacologists uses powerful confocal microscopes to study apoptosis and cell death within an international consortium. Science is working on solutions to fight Alzheimer disease, which is a torture for humankind. For this to happen today, the foundation was laid by scientists of previous centuries who deserve our great respect, all of them together and everyone separately. Johannes Piiper, a well-known professor of physiology, once told me in a conversation that articles should be published in every 10years about the men who have served as examples for the science of the present-day world and about the conditions in which their research was done. It is essential that researchers working in modern laboratories would not forget in their smugness that the laboratory has not always been a warm and well-lit room full of expensive technology, and not always have millions been allocated for research grants. Electricity came to Dorpat as late as in 1892. In the harsh Estonian winter, ice sometimes covered the inner walls of the Old Anatomical Theatre. Dorpat received railway connection in 1876. When I have made presentations in American countries, I have repeatedly been asked why the pharmacologists of the University of Tartu have not published an illustrated biography of Rudolf Richard Buchheim. As I have worked in the rooms the construction of which was directed by R. Buchheim as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, I am trying to correct this shortcoming at least to some extent. I have written about Buchheim earlier, but then the print volume was limited. In this article, I have attempted to fill the gaps where the earlier materials have been erroneous or incomplete. So, the article will explain the formation of the large family of Buchheims. Several articles have given the impression that when Buchheim arrived in Dorpat, there were no facilities at all, and, therefore, he founded the laboratory in the basement of his dwelling house. This article will also bring clarity to that. Through O. Schmiedeberg's memories, we will see the great difficulties with which Buchheim's viewpoints broke through and were accepted. The question where Buchheim's laboratory was situated after Buchheim moved house in 1852 until the completion of the annex to the Old Anatomical Theatre in 1860 will also be answered. The article also brings some clarity about R. Buchheim's children. For the first time, it has been summed up how R. Buchheim is commemorated in different towns and countries. The article includes photos from Estonian and foreign archives; some photos have also been received from cooperation partners. Photos available on the Internet as freeware have also been used. The mid-nineteenth century brought a whole constellation of talented scientists to the German-language University of Dorpat (now Tartu in Estonia, founded 1632) on the outskirts of the Russian Empire. They did not tinker on their own but were engaged in successful cooperation. Thus, the celebrities who happened to work in Tartu simultaneously included Professor of Anatomy and Physiology Georg Friedrich Karl Heinrich Bidder; founder of physiological chemistry, chemist Carl Ernst Heinrich Schmidt; and Rudolf Richard Buchheim whom Professors E. A. Carus and F. Bidder had invited to Tartu to work as Head of the Department of Materia Medica, Dietetics and History of Medicine. Together, the three talented and hardworking scientists cleared the path to research-based medicine and wrote their names into the history of world medicine forever. By introducing chemical analysis and animal experiments, R. Buchheim laid the foundation to scientific pharmacology.

Enlarging the image in the lecture theatre: giant oil paintings and anatomy teaching in Spain, 1870–1930

ABSTRACT In the nineteenth century, a new method for teaching anatomy shifted the professor’s position from the middle of the lecture amphitheatre to one side of the room. In this spot, the wall was used to display a variety of visual ‘flat technologies’ such as blackboards, oil paintings, wallcharts and light projections, among other visual aids. This article studies these changes in the visual culture of anatomy in Spain by analysing the programme developed by José de Letamendi based on giant oil paintings. The authors follow the influence of this new scheme throughout different chairs in Spain up to the first few decades of the twentieth century, focusing on the anatomy theatre of the University of Valladolid as its most prominent example. This analysis examines the relationships between the various flat technologies and puts into perspective the interest of the anatomists of this period in the methodological aspects of teaching.

The Emergence and Effects of the First Anatomy Theatres in Western Europe

The Emergence and Effects of the First Anatomy Theatres in Western Europe

New Books across the Disciplines

New Books across the Disciplines

Autopsy and sudden death.

Our story dates back in the late 70s, when a series of juvenile sudden death (SD) occurred in the Veneto region, north east of Italy. A successful application for a prospective study on young people dying suddenly (<35-year-old, sudden infant death syndrome excluded) was submitted to the regional health authorities, thus implementing a network of collaboration with local anatomic and forensic pathologists, to collect all such events and to gather demographic data. The project is still in progress, and since then, we studied hundreds of consecutive juvenile SD cases, allowing to identify the culprit diseases in the various organs and cardiac structures (aorta, coronary arteries, myocardium, valves, and conduction system). The long-standing Veneto region experience clearly shows that autopsy still plays a pivotal role in the study and prevention of SD and should be carried out regularly. With time, the investigation of SD moved from the classic post-mortem study to molecular autopsy, especially in cases of SD with structurally normal heart. Sudden death prevention in the young has to be faced by an interdisciplinary team, including pathologists, cardiologists, sport physicians, and geneticists, the clinicopathologic correlation method still being the polar star. The game in the fight against SD is still played in the anatomical theatre, the place where 'death enjoys to save lives'.

From Lecture Halls to Zoom Links: How Can Educational Theory Help Us to Deliver Effective and Engaging Teaching in an Online Environment?

Anatomical education has a long and colourful history, ranging from the anatomical theatre and artistic flourish of the renaissance period to modern-day virtual reality. Over the centuries, the body has been taken apart and mapped in exquisite detail. We are now able to access virtual models of the body anywhere, anytime, which allow for unlimited dissection and manipulation. Despite this progress, the majority of anatomical educators continue to deliver anatomy in a laboratory setting, using hands-on learning approaches such as dissection of cadaveric material. These methods are robustly supported by educational theories, such as information processing theory and experiential learning but require students to be present in a dissection room with access to human cadaveric material.The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced anatomy educators out of familiar dissection laboratories and into unfamiliar and uncomfortable virtual environments. When moving online during the pandemic, active learning theories, which form the basis of face-to-face classes, were used to construct interactive anatomy webinars to replace the on-campus practical laboratory-based teaching. The focus of these webinars was on student interactivity, and visual content with drawing activities, breakout groups, virtual three-dimensional models, and identifying activities being integrated into each session. Student feedback showed an appreciation of the interactive nature of these sessions, and staff were surprised at how well the webinars delivered engaging and interactive teaching at a time of limited social contact. This approach was not only useful during the restrictions of a pandemic but could offer a complementary approach to delivering practical anatomy teaching as we return to blended and on-campus learning again.

The History of the School of Animal Science at the University of Padova (Padua) and the Evolution of Animal Science in Italy

In its 800-year history, the University of Padova (Padua, Italy) has come to play an important role in the development of animal science in Italy and Europe. Having founded the oldest university botanical garden (1545; UNESCO World Heritage Site) and anatomical theatre (1595), and awarded the first university degree to a woman (Elena-Lucrezia Cornaro-Piscopia, 1678), the University instituted the Public School of Agriculture (Orto Agrario) in 1765 and the Collegium Zooiatricum in 1773. Between 1986 and 1995, under the leadership of Professor Mario Bonsembiante, animal scientist and rector, the scientific-technological center of Agripolis was established, including the Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (with the experimental farm and veterinary hospital), the Istituto Zooprofilattico delle Venezie, and Veneto Agricoltura. Agripolis rapidly became the most innovative center in Italy for teaching, research, and extension services in the fields of agricultural, animal, veterinary, food and environmental sciences. In the last 35 years, the number of Italian animal scientists has remained almost constant, but they have moved on to more innovative research topics closer to society’s demand and concerns, and significantly enhanced their international standing, reaching the first position in Europe and the fourth in the world in terms of citations.

David Lang’s Postminimalist Musical Theater

The article explores issues of the American musical theater of the nineteenth century, fruitfully developing on the basis of postminimalism. Among the brightest representatives of this style is the composer David Lang (1957), a member of the group “Bang on a Can”. His theatrical projects of the last two decades demonstrate a new phase in the development of postminimalist theater, the foundation of which was laid by his older contemporaries, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams. Using the example of stage works — “The Difficulty of Crossing a Field” (2002), “Prisoner of the State” (2019), and “Anatomy Theater” (2016) — the author identifies the main features of Lang’s musical and theatrical style and traces a close relationship with the operas of his predecessors. They are brought closer by the appeal to postmodern dramaturgy (fragmentation, discreteness, commentarity), social problems, the desire for genre uniqueness of each performance, repetitive methods of organizing musical facture. In his theatrical work, Lang relies on postminimalism and repetitive technique, which manifests itself at different levels — dramatic, verbal (repetition of syllables, words, phrases in the libretto) and musical. A characteristic feature of Lang’s stage opuses is the synthesis of academic opera traditions and non-academic genres and directions (Musical, jazz, rap), which allows us to draw analogies with the art of crossovers. The Musical in some cases acts as the genre basis of the work (non-academic vocals, dances, a speech episodes). Lang’s theater is a chamber theater, it assumes a small composition of participants, placement of vocalists and orchestra members on the stage, laconic timing of plays. All these factors allow us to make an assumption about the formation in Lang’s musical and theatrical work of the next phase of the evolution of postminimalism, which can be characterized as postpostminimalism.

ANATOMICAL THEATER OF A MEDICAL UNIVERSITY AS A SOURCE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF A MEDICAL STUDENT

In the article it is reflected the history of the opening of the anatomical theatre of Kursk state medical university and sections of the anatomical museum’s exposition are described in detail. The authors highlight the importance of this university structure not only on students’ education, but also in raising of the younger education. Creation of anatomical theatres was an important stage of anatomy’s formation as a basic medical science. The theatre’s architecture and exhibits are created by traditional methods and innovative technologies.

Snapchat, eavesdropping, and the surgical practices of Dr. Miami: a resurrection of the anatomical theatre

This article draws on John Locke’s theoretical conceptualisation of eavesdropping in examining the surgical, representational, and communicative practices of plastic surgeon and celebrity, Dr. Michael Salzhauer (aka Dr. Miami). I draw in part on literature in surveillance and visual studies to critically examine the visual and auditory features of Dr. Miami’s Snapchat stories, which, like reality television, are disseminated to audiences for their consumption. Through a critical visual analysis, I examine how the combination of social media (i.e., Snapchat) and visually documenting surgical practices has helped resurrect the Anatomical Theatres of the 13th to 18th centuries in digital forms through eavesdropping. Five themes emerged from the analysis: Resurrecting the Anatomical Theatre, Cosmetic Theatres, Technologically Mediated Gazes, Clinical Anatomical Objectification (CAO) and Anaesthetic Coma: Digitally Eavesdropping.

Giulio Camillo’s Theatre of Knowledge Revisited

Abstract In the Sixteenth Century, the Italian humanist Giulio Camillo built a ‘Theatre of Knowledge’ for the French King Francis I. Previous scholarship has debated whether this theatre was a physical place, a mental (mnemonic) space, or both. New archival evidence that has been overlooked in previous scholarship on Camillo, and his theatre, unequivocally proves for the first time that Camillo’s theatre had in fact been built in Paris. This invites a reconsideration of past reconstructions of the theatre and allows for the formulation of a new one. In this article, I have explored the hypothesis that Camillo’s theatre resembled an anatomy theatre. I have used 3D modelling and virtual reality in order to reconstruct some of the spatial features of Camillo’s theatre and explore how these insights further our understanding of his theatre in terms of historical and current practices surrounding the presentation of information and the invention of new knowledge.

LANCISI E I 'LANCISIANI'. SAPERE MEDICO E DIVULGAZIONE NELLA ROMA DEL SETTECENTO

The kaleidoscopic figure of Giovanni Maria Lancisi (1654-1720), one of the most remarkable physicians, scientists and scholars in modern Italy, can be a lucky gateway into eighteenth-century Rome – a surprising place for its intellectual vivacity, sometimes unprejudiced and always open to the most innovative expectations. The Medical Library he founded, one of the oldest and most important in the world, is only the most concrete among the many contributions that Lancisi gave to the dissemination and growth of medical knowledge of his time. His studies in the field of hygiene and the fight against malaria, his efforts to eradicate fears and popular superstitions caused by the ‘sudden deaths’, the enhancement of new forms of teaching such as the use of anatomical theatres, the active participation to the life of scientific and literary academies of Europe, are all revealing features, which make Lancisi a figure of lasting and widespread interest three centuries after his death. A figure who, according to his first biographer, was so outstanding «in the knowledge of sciences, and in the competence to explain them» that he aroused «the applause, even among the commoners, and the young people».

History of the Santa Maria and San Gallicano Dermatological Hospital.

The Santa Maria and San Gallicano Hospital represents one of the first dermatological centers founded in the world; since its establishment its aim is to treat widespread skin diseases such as leprosy, scabies, ringworm, prurigo and mange. Its construction began on March 14, 1725 with a ceremony held for the laying of the foundation stone. Its official inauguration, however, is dated October 6, 1726 when Pope Benedict XIII issued the Bonus ille Seal. The hospital's origins stem from the apostolic and charitable work by Father Emilio Lami, who was its first prior, and by the tenacious will of Cardinal Pietro Marcellino Corradini who was its protector. As can be seen by the marble plaque, still preserved and dated 1725, the health facility was intended for people with skin diseases. Venereal affections, such as syphilis and gonorrhea, were instead treated starting from the second half of the 19th century under the direction of Dr. Pietro Shilling and subsequently Dr. Gaetano Ciarrocchi. Since the 18th century, the hospital, built initially by architect Filippo Raguzzini, underwent expansion work including the construction of the "Nuova Corsia dei ragazzi tignoselli" ward, the "Anatomical Theater" of great artistic value and of the "Celtic Rooms." More recently, from the 1939, the hospital obtained, and still maintains today, the recognition as an Institute for Hospitalization and Care of a Scientific Nature (IRCCS); a clear indication of its authoritativeness and value during almost three centuries of history.

УНИВЕРСИТЕТСКИЕ УСТАВЫ КАК ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬНАЯ ОСНОВА МУЗЕЙНОГО ДЕЛА В РОССИЙСКИХ УНИВЕРСИТЕТАХ (XIX – НАЧАЛО XX в.)

For the first time in the museum literature, the article traces the influence of university charters on the museum business in Russian universities in the XIX – early XX century. Using the original act documents extracted from the “Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire”, the author showed that the charter of 1804 and all subsequent legislative acts provided for the formation of auxiliary educational institutions in universities – offices, assemblies, anatomical theaters. It is particularly stipulated that the charter of 1804 did not use the term “museum”, since it was not widely used in Russia at that time. In the act documents at the beginning of the XIX century, the word “cabinet” was used, which was in some sense a synonym for it and was used in the sense of storage, collection. But the work prescribed by legislative acts on the selection, description and preservation of exhibits, tools, and other objects necessary for teaching, allows us to talk about the birth of museum functions in universities. Starting in 1835, the charters introduced the term “museum”, they expanded the list of educational materials and aids. Taking into account the obvious lack of knowledge on the subject under study, the author gives the entire list of educational and auxiliary institutions listed in the statutes. These are the cabinets: physical, mineralogical, botanical, zoological, technological, and the collection of machines and models for applied mathematics, collections – architectural models, pharmacological, surgical instruments, obstetrical instruments, anatomical theater and collection of exhibits, zootomic theater, and collection of exhibits, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts and Antiquities. The statutes prescribe ways to replenish university collections, including through the unhindered discharge of benefits from abroad. In the university charters and staff schedules attached to the charters, it was mandatory to specify monetary amounts, determine their distribution for the maintenance of offices and museums, as well as the heads and general staff of these university departments. The article emphasizes that the charter of 1863 spelled out in detail the procedure for approving the position of curators of cabinets and museums, and in addition, their pension provision was separately prescribed. The charter of 1884 provides an expanded list of university museums, establishes the number of employees, and addresses issues of museum management. At the end of the article, it is quite appropriate to conclude that the university charters defined the legislative foundations of the museum business in Russian universities of the XIX-early XX century

RSU Anatomy Museum: a historical collection with a contemporary approach

On 16 June 2021, the renovated RSU Anatomy Museum opened its doors to visitors. The museum exhibitions are based on the first anat- omy training collection in Latvia. The collection was created in the Riga Anatomical Theatre in the 1920s and 1930s and used to train future medical specialists. Nowadays, the museum is open to everyone. Everyone is invited to look into what is usually seen only by anatomists or surgeons and to discover the diversity of human bodies. Skeletons, embryos, bones, body parts and organs – their structure and variations, healthy and afflicted with disease. Everything is real here. The museum is located at 9 Kronvalda Boulevard, in the Anatomical Theatre building complex.