More than 40 participants from around the world to gather at Indiana University Northwest for a three-day, hands-on anatomy workshop 
The International Human Cadaver Prosection Program (IHCPP), an annual and truly unique program allowing non-physician and non-medical student volunteers to become active participants in the Indiana University School of Medicine – Northwest’s (IUSM-NW) gross anatomy lab, has selected the 43 individuals who will take part in the 2010 session. This year’s IHCPP will take place on Indiana University Northwest’s campus Tuesday, Aug. 3, thru Thursday, Aug. 5.
Gaining detailed knowledge of human anatomy, radiology and orthopedics, the volunteers will work alongside medical students and faculty, practicing physicians and other professionals to ready the body donors for the fall 2010 gross anatomy classes. The physical process of prosection includes the removal of donors’ skin and body fat to expose organs, muscles and other anatomical structures.
Selected from more than 150 applicants, the prosection volunteers, consisting of both students and professionals, represent the diverse medical field, with participants’ backgrounds ranging from nursing to ophthalmology to biomedical engineering and physical therapy.
“All prosection program volunteers will gain by working closely with individuals from a mix of healthcare and medical backgrounds,” said program director Ernest Talarico, Jr., Ph.D., who is the assistant director of medical education and course director of human gross anatomy and embryology at IUSM-NW. “This wide access to various medical fields truly represents one of the core themes of this unique program: teamwork and collaboration. This model facilitates learning by informing volunteers of what their key counterparts do and their important role in patient care.”
With teamwork and collaboration central to the program, the 37 participants who will serve as prosection volunteers will have direct involvement and hands-on experience working with six volunteer professionals.
“This year’s professional volunteers bring substantial medical knowledge and expertise to the table, which will create an enriching learning experience for all, and will ultimately benefit the gross anatomy students,” said Talarico.
While the majority of participants (24) hail from Northwest Indiana or the Chicagoland area, the program has achieved national and international recognition and interest. In fact, 11 volunteers from downstate Indiana, Florida, Iowa, Maryland and Ohio, will convene with international participants who either study or practice medicine in Canada, Poland, Spain or Malaysia.
The majority of the IHCPP student volunteers are from the Indiana University network, either working on their undergraduate or medical school degrees at IU Northwest or IU Bloomington. The other domestic universities to be represented by participants include: Excelsior College; Luther College; Northeastern Ohio University; Nova Southeastern University; Purdue University; University of Illinois at Chicago; and Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. The international students will bring their knowledge base to IU Northwest’s campus from Canada’s University of Alberta and University of British Columbia; Poland’s Jagiellonian University; Universidad Autónoma de Madrid located in Spain; and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Northwest Indiana participants in the 2010 IHCPP include:
- Miracle C. Anokwute, IU Northwest sophomore biology student, of Merrillville
- Lucas T. Buchler, IUSM-NW 2nd-year medical student, of Dyer
- Jonathan Buka, M.D., Eye Specialist Center, of Munster
- Jeremiah J. Cox, IU Northwest senior pre-med student, of Portage
- Adam P. Crawford, IU Northwest senior pre-med student, of Crown Point
- Jacqueline D. Dandridge, IU Bloomington freshman student, of Gary
- Benjamin B. Goldenberg, IU Bloomington freshman student, of Munster
- Chelsea M. Gustafson, Purdue University West Lafayette junior pharmacy student, of Valparaiso
- Linda Huang, IUSM-NW 2nd-year medical student, of Merrillville
- Stephen M. Koveck, IU Northwest sophomore chemistry student, of Valparaiso
- Anthony C. Levenda, M.D., Lake Shore Bone & Joint Institute, of Chesterton
- Jennifer L. Lockhart, RTCT, St. Anthony Medical Center/IU Northwest; CT Tech/Adjnt Inst., of Crown Point
- Zachary M. Messina, IU Northwest sophomore biology student, of Portage
- Dalibor Plecas, IU Northwest junior chemistry/pre-med student, of Highland
- Danielle M. Richardson, Rensselear Polytechnic Institute senior biomedical engineering student, of Portage
- Bruce J. Thoma, M.D., Lake Shore Bone & Joint Institute, of Chesterton
- Asad J. Torabi, IU Northwest senior pre-med student, of Valparaiso
- Zachary P. Tritsch, IU Bloomington freshman student, of Schererville
- Angela L. Washington, EMTP, PROMPT Ambulance Service, of Gary
- Peter A. Zack, EMTP, PROMPT Ambulance Service; IUN senior biology/pre-med student, of Hammond
Chicagoland-area participants include:
- Ryan M. Colon, University of Illinois at Chicago freshman biology student, of Crystal Lake
- Douglas E. Conroy, DcPT, Conroy Sports & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Center, of Flossmoor
- Douglas G. Conroy, Purdue University junior pre-physical therapy student, of Geneva
- Eric DeGraff, IU Northwest sophomore nursing student, of South Holland
Downstate Indiana participant includes:
- Kim A. Viehe, Excelsior College nursing student, of Oaklandon
Florida participants include:
- Kimberly M. Giordano, Nova Southeastern University biology/masters program in biomedical sciences student, of Davie
- Andrew A. Glickman, Nova Southeastern University graduate pre-med student, of Davie
- Mark Jaffe, DPM, Nova Southeastern University professor, of Fort Lauderdale
- Norberto Mancera, Nova Southeastern University senior pre-med student, of Coral Springs
- Tania Patel, Nova Southeastern University graduate biology student, of Hollywood
- Yaneve Shemesh, Nova Southeastern University senior biology/pre-med student, of Surfside
Iowa participants include:
- Erik V. Mortens, Luther College senior biology/pre-med student, of Johnston
- Marty Mortens, D.O., Mercy Family Practice Clinics, Medical Director Hospice House, of Johnston
Maryland participant includes:
- Daniel R. Hensley, Maryland State Anatomy Board lab assistant, of Westminster
Ohio participant includes:
- Lila E. Sheikhi, Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine 2nd-year medical student, of Westlake
Canada participants include:
- Sarah J. Anderson, University of Alberta graduate surgery student, of Sturgeon County, Alberta
- Benjamin Y. Jong, University of British Columbia 2nd-year medical student, of Vancouver, British Columbia
Poland participant includes:
- Katarzyna M. Mikrut, Jagiellonian University Medical College School of Medicine 4th-year medical student, of Krakow
Spain participants include:
- Andrea Albajar Bobes, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 3rd-year medical student, of Madrid
- Loyola Garcia-Atance Garcia, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 3rd-year medical student, of Madrid
- Diego Ramos Rubio, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 3rd-year medical student, of Madrid
- Alberto Gonzalez Velado, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 3rd-year medical student, of Vigo
Malaysia participant includes:
- Shanthi Ganabadi, DVM, Ph.D., Universiti Putra Malaysia associate professor, of Bangi, Selangor
Just as the medical field continually evolves, so does the IHCPP. Now in its 11th year, Talarico has made some substantial program additions allowing not only the volunteers, but also the gross anatomy students, greater opportunity to research and learn from the donated cadavers. This year’s formal program will begin with a new suturing workshop on Aug. 3, allowing volunteers the opportunity to advance their suturing skills. Following will be a welcome reception for all IHCPP participants. This year also introduces a new lecture series focusing on cutting-edge basic science and clinical research in human anatomy and a new “pilot program” allowing international medical student prosectors to participate in clerkship-style rotations at U.S. Hospitals.
In 2008, volunteer prosectors partnered with undergraduate radiography students from IU Northwest College of Health and Human Services to take x-rays of anatomical donors, which could be later used as dissection guides.
And last year (2009), IU Northwest and Merrillville-based Methodist Hospitals joined forces to allow prosectors and student radiographers the opportunity to obtain MRI and CT images of donors via a hands-on approach. This addition to the IHCPP proved to be extremely beneficial, yielding a wealth of information about each donor by showing prosectors and gross anatomy students the location of tumors, orthopedic implants and other important structures within the donors’ anatomy and yielding five independent and ongoing cadaver-based medical research studies. Imaging on human cadavers for the 2010 IHCPP will take place July 16 at IU Northwest and July 17 at Methodist Hospitals, and will introduce high-resolution scanning and fetal MRI and CT.
“MRI and CT images of donors proved to be an essential element to the IHCPP,” said Talarico. “What was previously once an undocumented procedure on human cadavers is now charted territory. We are ever grateful for the continued support Methodist Hospitals has shown us, and I believe future collaboration between the university and the hospital will result in even greater medical knowledge about donors.”
Unique to this program, IUSM-NW obtains the names of its anatomical donors. Doing so is out of respect for the donors who have made the ultimate medical sacrifice of donating their bodies to further medical education and research. Talarico’s gross anatomy students are afforded the rare opportunity to communicate with (and meet) the donors’ families, providing them with additional health information to aid in their dissection and research.
“This interaction between students and donor families helps facilitate empathy, respect and professionalism – aspects of medical education that are difficult to teach,” said Talarico. “This often comprises a once in a lifetime experience for the medical student where he/she takes the benefits of this experience beyond the classroom and translates them into a lifetime of patient care and community service.”
In addition to Methodist Hospitals, sponsors or supporters of the 2010 IHCPP at ISUM-NW include:
- ZIMMER Orthopedics, Zimmer, Inc., of Warsaw, Ind.
- Rocco Prosthetics & Orthotic Center, of Cincinnati
- MORTECH Manufacturing, of Azusa, Calif.
- Darlene Adams & Comfort’s Catering, of St. John, Ind.
- American Association of Anatomists, of Bethesda, Md.
- American Association of Clinical Anatomists, of Lexington, Ky.
- Conroy Sports & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Center, of Flossmoor, Ill.
- Vijay Dave, M.D., Cardiologist and Director of Medical Education, St. Mary’s Hospital, of Hobart, Ind.
- ETHICON Products · William Forgey, M.D., of Merrillville, Ind.
- Dennis Han, M.D., Care Pointe Ear, Nose, Throat and Sinus Center, of Merrillville, Ind.
- IU Northwest Bookstore, of Gary, Ind.
- Mark Jaffe, DPM, Nova Southeastern University professor, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Robin Jones, Clinical Associate professor IUN-Radiologic Sciences, of Gary, Ind.
- Anthony C. Levenda, M.D., Lake Shore Bone & Joint Institute, of Chesterton, Ind.
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Luis Marques, Director of Imaging, Methodist Hospitals, Methodist Hospital Southlake, of Merrillville, Ind.
- Munster Community Hospital, of Munster, Ind.
- PROMPT Ambulance Service, of Highland, Ind.
- Lazette Saunders, Fisher Scientific, of Hanover Park, Ill.
- Joel Vilensky , Ph.D., of IUSM-Fort Wayne
For more information, visit the Web at http://medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=4991.