Art In Science: The Stage of the Human Body—The Anatomical Theatre of Bologna

Physicians are inherently captivated by human anatomy. It is in our very nature to seek out answers that can help unlock the human body’s most hidden secrets. The journey to discovery generally begins in medical school, where the study of the human anatomy was once considered a cornerstone of medical education. The topic has been, to some degree, deemphasized through the years in order to make time for other priorities in a fast-paced, modern curriculum. The ways in which medical educators teach the subject is also evolving. Traditional dissection-based approaches have given way to more modern and practical teaching modalities such as self-directed, problem-based, and computer-assisted learning [9]. Although the days of watching live dissections are far from numbered, perhaps we will no longer need the ‘‘stage,’’ equipped to accommodate a large number of eager students witnessing the ‘‘performance.’’