FY 23 SWVHEC Annual Report

HIGHLIGHT: VIRTUAL CADAVER LAB

About the Project

In October 2022, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Foundation was awarded $100,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, matched with $111,754 in other funding, to create a virtual cadaver lab. After the lab equipment was purchased, the lab opened in December 2022. The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Foundation, A. Linwood Holton Governor's School, and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center all partnered together, with each providing a cash match. The project is benefiting pre-health and health profession students who will go on to secure well-paying jobs in the region. Partnering with six different colleges and universities, the virtual cadaver lab is projected to provide 5,000+ training hours annually to approximately 350 students enrolled in Doctor of Pharmacy, Family Nurse Practitioner, Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia, Bachelor of Nursing, Medical Lab Science, and Associates Degree Nursing programs, plus Human Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, and Biology college classes offered by A. Linwood Holton Governor's School with college credits awarded through all local community colleges.

What Is a Virtual Cadaver Lab?

A virtual cadaver lab offers distinct advantages over physical cadavers, such as the ability to erase mistakes, explore multiple specimens, record and play back dissections for assessment, and augment the experience with tissue and organ specific information. Students coming from the digital native generation have proven to benefit most from anatomy courses, while utilizing multiple instructional resources. The Anatomage Table used in the Southwest Virginia Virtual Cadaver Lab has the capability to view anatomy from any angle, zoom in and out, highlight individual structures and virtually dissect tissue. Two Anatomage Virtual Dissection Cadaver Tables were purchased, along with multiple task trainers (Knee Joint, Kidney, Urinary System, Blood Cell Model, etc.).

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