Writing blogs and tweets in social media has made my thoughts accessible to more number of people. Most students prefer to read and respond to opinions and articles posted on web, than that written in reports. It is a good way to engage and interact with friends and total strangers. By blogging in a forum, I am able to share content, encourage debate, and answer queries. Setting up hastag has made easy my search for a particular topic. I also set hastag, so that people who intend to research on the topic can find my post. The responses I get through social medias are more thoughtful, than person to person discussion. Even my family and friends get to read my post, which does not happen with written report. I could spend time more effectively with social media, by engaging in topic research and discussions. It has a good impact on my learning as it helps me discover and explore many different topics that are related, but not specifically addressed in the class.
For example in the reading on ‘hospitals’, I was curious of the word “museum of madness” and set to make a detailed search about it in the internet. This led me to a new topic on deinstitutionalization, which was not covered in the classroom. Due to an overwhelming increase in the number of asylum and overcrowding, the federal government instituted the Deinstitutionalization Act, which allowed the release of patients with certain mental illness and those who have been in the asylum for long (Torrey 2010). Though this act did good for many patients, it also left some patients homeless and without care. (Fakhoury and Priebe 2007)
In the post on “dissection”, I have blogged about male dissector or body snatchers (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). These people who steal dead bodies from graves to sell them in anatomy labs or medical school, had an important role in shaping our society. I have included some open ended question which I felt will set the discussion rolling on this topic.
2. The use of human cadavers in medical dissection has a long and interesting history. After reading on the topic “dissection”, my thoughts about the evolution of modern medicine changed dramatically. The history of medicine is not just influenced by scientific discoveries, but, political, cultural, gender and racial factor has influenced its development. Greek physicians in Alexandria are considered the first to systematically dissect human bodies and understand its anatomy. Greek dissectors did not do dissection to find cure for diseases, but out of curiosity to know what was inside the human body. Though technically, dissection through muscles is necessary before one reaches the viscera; early Greek dissectors ignored the muscular anatomy completely, and focused more on visceral anatomy. Surgery was rarely practiced in early medicine and thus the need to learn dissection was not necessary. Literature evidences to the existence of human dissection after Greek, was found in Rome. Before the time of Nero, dissection of human cadavers were banned in Rome. Roman emperor Nero, ordered dissection of his dead mother, so that he could see the womb that bore him. Nero was particularly interested in studying women’s body. His quest for answers to questions like: How to provoke miscarriage? How to identify the sex of the child? How to determine the virginity status of the women? How to determine pregnancy?; encouraged him to permit dissection in concealment. However the scientific findings of his time, could not stand the test of time. Scientific and medical advancement has helped in clearing all misconception associated with dissection studies from Nero’s time. (Donawerth and Seeff 2000)
A direct experience with dissection is central to today’s medical training. Though good photographs can give a decent idea about the anatomy of human body; hands on exposure to dissecting a human cadaver will give students, the mental, emotional and technical skills required to handle surgical instruments. Many medical schools today, use computer models to teach anatomy. The difficulty in finding suitable cadaver for dissection and the stench associated with using a decomposing and preserved human cadaver, deter many from dissection. Dissection is sometimes practiced during autopsy and postmortem of dead bodies. With no more body snatchers today, medical fraternity, is forced to look for alternatives to procure cadavers to teach its students.
References
Donawerth, Jane, and Adele F Seeff.2000.Crossing Boundaries. Newark, DE:University of Delaware Press.
Encyclopedia Britannica,.2014.’Body snatching’. http://www.britannica.com/topic/body-snatching.
Fakhoury, walid, and Stefan Priebe. 2007. ’Deinstitutionalization and Reinstitutionalization: Major Changes in the Provision of Mental Healthcare’. Psychiatry 6 (8): 313-316.doi:10.1016/j.mppsy.2007.05.008.
Torrey, E. Fuller.2010.’Documenting the Failure of Deinstitutionalization’. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes 73(2):122-124.doi:10.1521/psyc.2010.73.2.122
