Fresh Human Donor Tissue in Anatomy Education: Task Fidelity, Procedural Relevance, and Curriculum Design...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Gross Anatomy
• Surgical Training

Background:

• Medical curricula face increasing compression and integration.
• Digital and physical models supplement traditional anatomy teaching.
• Renewed interest exists in donor-based learning and preservation methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the educational value of fresh human donor tissue in anatomy and procedural training.
• To compare fresh tissue with soft-preserved and formalin-fixed tissue.
• To inform preservation method choices based on learning objectives.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of English-language human studies (2015-2026) from MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and ERIC.
• Backward citation searching for landmark papers.
• Synthesis of limited and heterogeneous preservation-explicit educational literature.

Main Results:

• Fresh tissue is most valuable for functional behaviors like palpation, percussion, and ultrasound-guided anatomy.
• Benefits observed in knowledge and performance outcomes, especially for clinical exams and postgraduate courses.
• Soft-preserved tissue offers a pragmatic alternative for repeated access and integration.
• Formalin-fixed tissue remains useful for structural teaching despite reduced realism.

Conclusions:

• Preservation methods are crucial curricular design decisions, not mere technical details.
• Fresh tissue has a role in competency-based anatomy education for high-fidelity tasks.
• Evidence for long-term clinical transfer from fresh tissue training requires further study.