Prosection, the dissection of a cadaver by a professional, is used to teach anatomy in medical schools. Historically, it was used as criminal punishment. Prosections are useful for focusing on specific topics and require only one cadaver. Respectful treatment of human remains is expected.
The continuation involves the dissection of a cadaver by a professional, in order to demonstrate specific techniques and anatomical features of particular interest. A cadaver that has been dissected using this process is also known as a prosecution, and prosecutions are often used in medical education. Like dissection, prosecution is controversial in some regions of the world, with some people arguing that both dissection and prosecution should be eliminated from medical programs, while others believe that prosecution is not practical enough and that students would learn more through direct dissection.
The practice of continuation is quite ancient. Historically, for example, medical schools used prosecutions with the corpses of criminals to teach their students about anatomy. In fact, such proceedings were often used as criminal punishment, because people believed that dissection was literally a fate worse than death, as it would prevent someone from being resurrected on doomsday. As numerous macabre prints attest, the dissections were generally open to the public.
In modern medical schools, prosecution is often used in anatomy classes to show students specific anatomical structures. An advantage for dissection labs rather than dissection lab classes is that only one cadaver is required, and preserved prosections can be reused, reducing the demand for cadavers for dissection. However, some students feel pained by not being able to personally identify specific structures of interest; surgeons in particular sometimes bemoan the lack of dissection opportunities in medical school.
Preserved continuations are useful when a teacher wants to focus on a specific topic. For example, continuations of the chest may be prepared, asking students to identify particular structures. The use of professionally prepared processes ensures that the assignment is equally challenging for all students and that the corpses are reasonably uniform, making the test fair.
Just as in dissection, a respectful and conscientious attitude towards continuation is cultivated. Students are expected to treat proxies with the same respect they would during dissections, and processed bodies are usually covered at the end of class and handled gently during class time out of respect for the fact that they are human remains. Equal reverence for life is encouraged in veterinary schools, with many schools using donated animals that have died of natural causes for prosecutions rather than euthanizing animals specifically for use in anatomy laboratories.
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