Current Status and Prospects of Training on Surgical Techniques in Clinical Anatomy Practice

Adequate surgical skills of surgeons is essential to provide safe surgical treatment to patients needing surgery. Surgeons usually learn surgical techniques through lectures, surgical videos, and, if possible, hands-on practice using models or animals. If young surgeons can use cadavers donated to the anatomy department to learn basic surgical techniques, and specialists, can simulate rare and difficult cases before surgery on cadavers, a reduction of medical accidents could be expected. In addition, research and development (R&D) efforts on cadavers is also important for the development of new medical technologies and medical devices. Cadaver surgical training (CST) in the clinical anatomy laboratory (CAL) varies considerably by country in terms of the laws, public attitudes, medical professionals’ perspectives, and administrative support. In Japan, the most basic requirement for implementing CST is the dedication of members of the donor registry organization and efforts of the anatomy department. Numerous challenges exist, such as the sustainability of CAL as an organization, ethical issues, and the framework for R&D in industry-academia collaboration. This paper describes the current status and future prospects of CST in Japan.