Cadaver Lab

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Real, hands-on work with donor bodies provides indispensable experience for health-related careers. It's uncommon at the undergraduate level to study cadavers and even more rare to be able to perform a dissection. At º£Íâ³Ô¹Ï, you can do both.

The George Barlow Body Donor Lab offers º£Íâ³Ô¹Ï students the unique opportunity to learn from and work with cadavers. The lab supports a variety of students across campus including athletic training, biochemistry, biology, exercise science, and health science majors.

State-of-the-Art Facilities

While a small facility, our cadaver lab has top-of-the-line equipment: 

•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Downward drafting tables connect to lab ventilation and draw fumes down through the perforated table.  This significantly minimizes chemical fume exposure for students.
•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Castered cafetorium tables and chairs easily convert for seamless transitions from seated work to work on cadavers.
•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Models, x-rays, autopsy saws and other dissection tools provide additional experience and study opportunities.

The Cadavers

There are always three donor bodies (male and female) in the lab, with one exchanged every year. The senior students do the prosection work to prepare the donor bodies to be used for the junior level Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II lab exercises. Students complete anterior and posterior muscle dissections, followed by specialty dissections of the knees, spinal cord, eyeballs, larynxes, and brains. Blood vessels are exposed, and heart and lungs are removed for further study. 

The lab also has several articulated and disarticulated real human skeletons used to study human osteology. To supplement learning, students also have access to preserved animal organs (eyes, brains, hearts), that can be reviewed during lab instruction. 

An On-Going Learning Experience

Working in the lab is not a one and done opportunity. As a student, you'll have the opportunity to use the lab in several classes including: 

•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II​
•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Mammalian Dissection Lab
•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Cadaver Prosection​​
•&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Senior Honors Project

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cadaver lab projects
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Pam Faber
Dr. Pam Faber

No model or photo or other mammal is going to be exactly like what we find. Dissection practice helps to uncover a different kind of learning than pointing to something in a book. I can't imagine teaching anatomy any other way.

Donor Appreciation

Seniors are tasked with the creation of a Donor Appreciation Ceremony during which the University celebrates the selfless acts of generosity provided to us by our body donors. 

We would like to thank all those who generously donated their bodies through the Body Donation Program at The Ohio State University.  Without them, we would not be able to offer such a strong anatomical curriculum.

The cadaver lab is made possible by the generous support of our alumni and donors, specifically Webster Industries, the Dr. Susan Wolf Endowment, the Premedical Enhancement/Longaker Animal Lab Fund (Dr. Chris Longaker & Timothy Tuthill), and Dr. John and Elinore  Hoffmeier.