FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 338:846 March 19, 1998 Number 12 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited

By Albert Howard Carter III. 308 pp. New York, Picador, 1997. $24. ISBN 0-312-16840-3.

Dissection of the human cadaver is the first rite of initiation into the medical profession for virtually every medical student. Whatever its obvious practical educational value, human anatomy lab carries enormous symbolic value as a sort of hazing ritual. Touching and exploring a dead body violates deep taboos of our society, which shuns death. For this reason, the medical student's lay friends and relatives typically are intensely curious: What was it like? Did you faint? Were you squeamish? Most medical students have difficulty responding properly; the emotional impact of anatomy lab tends to get dissipated in the whirlwind of stress . . . [Full Text of this Article]

HOME  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  SEARCH  |  CURRENT ISSUE  |  PAST ISSUES  |  COLLECTIONS  |  PRIVACY  |  TERMS OF USE  |  HELP  |  beta.nejm.org Comments and questions? Please contact us. The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.