The University of North Texas Health Science Center has one of the largest anatomy labs in Texas.
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi helped guide 12 medical school students March 23 through multiple surgical procedures in an anatomy lab. The students’ subjects were donated cadavers.
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi guides University of North Texas Health Science Center medical students through surgical procedures on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Students grab surgical tools on March 23. Twelve medical students practiced surgical procedures on six cadavers.(Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi gives instruction on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi shows students hands-on guidance. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Students listen to John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi helps students on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi demonstrates how to insert fingers during a surgical procedure on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A box with tracheostomy equipment sits on a table. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi compares his finger to a tube on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
John Peter Smith Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Rajesh R. Gandhi guides a student’s cut during an operation procedure. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Surgical equipment sits on a cloth on March 23. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
In a cadaver-based anatomy course their first year, Health Science Center students study previously dissected cadavers. In their fourth year, they practice the dissections on the cadavers.
“We usually don’t do a lot of fresh cadaver work, but we have in the past. It’s not too different for us,” Tommy Wright, a graduating student, said.
Wright will continue his post-graduate education at Texas Tech University, where he was matched for his residency. He served as a teaching assistant for Dr. Cara L. Fisher, a gross anatomy course professor at the Health Science Center, for three years.
“I think you get, after a certain amount of time, a certain comfort level. It’s not as shocking,” Fisher said. “This is my home.”
The anatomy lab is kept cool and the ventilation system turns air out 12 times an hour. New air, not filtered air, replaces the air inside the anatomy lab. The ventilation helps prevent prolonged smells by making the air less volatile, the Director of Center for Anatomical Sciences Rustin E. Reeves said.
About 640 medical students took anatomy courses this year at University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by email or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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